Measles Cases Surge In U.S.—Here’s Where Disease Is Spreading As 2025 Boom Continues

Topline

Hundreds of measles cases have already been reported in the U.S. since the start of the year, exceeding the pace of cases seen at the same point in 2025—when the highly contagious disease made its biggest comeback in three decades, according to data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—indicating the U.S. could be in for another record-setting year for measles as childhood vaccination rates decline.

Health department staff members enter the Andrews County Health Department measles clinic carrying doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Andrews, Texas.

AP Photo/Annie Rice

Key Facts

The CDC has confirmed a total of 416 cases in 2026, meaning the U.S. is seeing nearly 20% of last year’s total cases (2,255) in just the first few weeks of the new year.

The CDC recorded 206 cases for the week of Jan. 4 and 191 cases for the week of Jan. 11.

For comparison, the highest number of measles cases recorded in a single week last year was 115 during the week beginning March 30, when cases were growing at their highest rate.

Of the 416 cases recorded by the CDC so far this year, 94% of them are associated with outbreaks that started in 2025, according to the agency, which noted there are no new outbreaks, which are defined as 3 or more related cases, so far this year.

Children under five years old make up 25% of this year’s cases so far, while children ages five to 19 make up 61%, according to the CDC.

Dr. Natasha Chida, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Division of Infectious Diseases, said her and her colleagues are concerned about measles cases rising with each passing year because “we’re seeing a continued decline of vaccination rates.”

Chida said part of her concern is rooted in the spread of measles even in states with strong vaccination coverage, noting if such states border others that have low vaccination rates, “it will spread throughout the country.”

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Where Are Measles Cases In The U.s. Right Now?

Measles cases have been confirmed in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Which States Have The Highest Number Of Measles Cases?

South Carolina is host to the majority of measles cases in the U.S. so far this year, with 338. Utah has 32 confirmed cases this year, notching the second highest number of cases. The remaining states have fewer than 10 cases each.

What Are Measles Symptoms?

Measles symptoms include rash, fever, fatigue. cough, runny nose and red eyes. Symptoms do not appear until 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. They can also appear as late as 21 days after exposure. People who contract measles should isolate for four days after a rash develops. The day of rash onset is considered day zero.

What To Watch For

The U.S. could lose its elimination status with measles, according to multiple outlets. The loss of the status occurs when a country fails to interrupt the continuous transmission of a virus for over 12 months. Amira Albert Roess, a professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, told NBC News, “We have all the ingredients to have our elimination status revoked,” as vaccine coverage has dropped under 95%, a threshold for achieving herd immunity, in several states, according to the CDC. Dr. Ralph Abraham, the principal deputy director of the CDC, told reporters this month the loss of the measles elimination status would not be that significant. “We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated. That’s their personal freedom,” he said. “I think we have to respect those communities that choose to go somewhat of a different route.” The Pan American Health Organization will determine in November if the U.S. has lost its measles elimination status. The health organization invited the U.S. to meet virtually in April to review the elimination status.

Crucial Quote

“The challenge here is that preventing infectious diseases that are vaccine preventable requires everyone to be all in and think about each other and I think we are seeing less of a buy-in on that as an idea nowadays than we were before,” Chida said, adding, “If you haven’t seen someone significantly affected or die from it, it’s hard to imagine what an epidemic of that infection would look like.”

Key Background

The measles outbreak of 2025 marked the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. since 1992. Three unvaccinated children died from measles, marking the first measles deaths recorded in the U.S. since 2015. Cases primarily surged from Texas, where 803 cases were confirmed by the CDC last year. The state’s kindergartners had an estimated 93.2% vaccination rate in the 2024 to 2025 school year, with 88.7% of Houston kindergartners estimated to be vaccinated. There were also large numbers of cases in South Carolina, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Vaccine skeptic and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initially said the measles outbreak was “not unusual” before changing his view in March, saying the outbreak was “a call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health.” By April, Kennedy encouraged the use of the MMR vaccine used to combat measles, though the health secretary simultaneously promoted the use of budesonide, an anti-inflammatory steroid, and clarithromycin, an antibiotic used on bacterial infections, to treat measles. Health experts have said budesonide cannot treat measles and that clarithromycin is not the right antibiotic for treating the secondary bacterial infections that come from measles.