US records 2,318 measles cases, already surpassing 2025 total

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing a Friday update from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that the United States has recorded 2,318 measles cases so far in 2026. That already exceeds the 2,289 cases counted in 2025, with five months still left in the year. The 2025 total had been the highest in more than three decades.

The report said the rise marks the country’s worst measles year since 1991 and comes after the US declared endemic transmission eliminated in 2000 following broad vaccination efforts. Al Jazeera and The Associated Press noted major outbreaks in states including South Carolina, Utah and Arizona. South Carolina health officials have reported 997 cases in what they described as the state’s largest outbreak in 35 years, while warning that the number is probably incomplete.

Dr Varun Shetty, Texas’s chief epidemiologist, told AP that official counts often miss cases because they depend on testing and people sharing information with health providers and public health authorities. Scientists and health officials cited in the report warned that declining immunisation leaves young children and people with weakened immune systems at greater risk. The article said a 95 percent community vaccination rate is considered necessary to prevent outbreaks.

Al Jazeera also reported that national kindergarten vaccination coverage for measles, mumps and rubella fell to 92.5 percent in the 2024-2025 school year, with sharper drops in some communities. The resurgence is significant because measles is highly contagious, and falling coverage can allow outbreaks to spread even after years of successful control.