News

The U.S. has the highest number of annual measles cases in decades, with at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and Washington, D.C. (The Washington Post, subscription).

What’s going on: “The nation surpassed infections reported in 2019, reaching the largest number of cases since 1992, when officials recorded more than 2,100 infections, according to data published Friday from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation.”

• At least 155 people have been hospitalized with the highly contagious, vaccine-preventable virus, and three have died from associated complications so far in 2025.
• All three fatalities were unvaccinated against measles, and about 92% of known measles cases this year have been in unvaccinated people.
• By contrast, just three measles-related deaths in total were reported from 2021 to 2025.

Where it’s happening: “The largest outbreak has been in West Texas, where officials have recorded more than 750 cases since late January and believe the true toll is much higher.”

• While the spread seems to be slowing, it also seems to be spreading to nearby states.

Why it’s happening: Since a 2019 outbreak in New York, confidence in America’s public health institutions has fallen, and now it’s “sharply divided along political lines.”

Eliminated or not? Though measles was considered eradicated from the U.S. in 2000, the increasing appearance of the viral disease in “close-knit communities with low vaccination coverage” jeopardizes the country’s “elimination status if there is continuous spread of linked measles cases for more than 12 months.”