US Measles Infections Surpass 2025 Total to Reach 35-Year High

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Or sign-in if you have an account.e]7xlwgo0gx6q4j]lfszx9bq_media_dl_1.png US Centers for Disease Control a(Bloomberg) — US measles cases in 2026 have already outpaced last year’s total and have reached a level not seen in more than three decades. 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Forty-three states and Washington, DC, have recorded at least one infection this year.Vaccine policy under the Trump administration has been upended since critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became secretary of Health and Human Services. In the 2025 Texas outbreak, Kennedy pushed unproven remedies. During his tenure, thousands of career scientists at the CDC have been fired and funding for local health departments has been frozen, said Rich Besser, the former acting director of the CDC.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“The end result has been thousands of measles cases, and that means many more children will be at risk of severe illness and death from a disease that vaccines can easily prevent,” Besser said. “I fear that as long as Secretary Kennedy is in office, these kinds of numbers will become accepted as the new normal in our nation.” HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Measles is a highly contagious disease — nine out of 10 unvaccinated people who come into contact with the disease will be infected. It can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling and even death: the virus claimed the lives of three people in the US in 2025, including two young children. Measles vaccination rates had already been declining in the US in the 1990s, but the Covid pandemic exacerbated the trend. Many called 2020’s Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership that developed a Covid vaccine in record time, the greatest achievement of the first Trump administration. Still, plenty of Americans distrusted the shots, which were based on new mRNA technology, and rebelled against vaccine mandates — including Kennedy. Donald Trump once sang the praises of the Covid vaccine, but changed course in his 2024 campaign for a second term as president and railed against the Biden administration’s pandemic policies. He aligned himself with Kennedy, vowing he’d let the vaccine critic “go wild” on health policy. Kennedy brought his anti-vaccine followers in as Trump supporters under the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.The Trump administration ordered a communications pause at the CDC in January 2025 that slowed down the government’s measles response in Texas, the epicenter of last year’s outbreak. Once at the helm of HHS beginning in February 2025, Kennedy touted unproven measles remedies, like cod liver oil and vitamin A.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Kennedy said that the measles vaccine should be a “personal choice.” The decline of state mandates that all children be inoculated before starting school has led to some communities falling below vaccination rates of 90%, the minimum needed for herd immunity that protects everyone from the virus’s spread, including those whose medical conditions don’t allow them to get the shots. Kennedy further disrupted anti-measles efforts by the CDC by firing members of a key advisory panel, adding many vaccine skeptics and changing the childhood vaccine schedule to call for fewer shots — actions that have been tied up in the federal court system. Kennedy fired the only permanent CDC director 29 days into her tenure over a disagreement on vaccine policy. The Surgeon General position is vacant after a second nominee was pulled. Long-time scientists and officials at federal health agencies have been fired or quit. Polls have shown that Americans disapprove of the changes to vaccine policy. Kennedy has now pulled back on his public vaccine skepticism ahead of the midterm elections after an internal memo directed the administration to focus on more popular initiatives, like the food pyramid. The US could soon lose its measles elimination status, an achievement it reached in 2000 after mass public health communications campaigns encouraged people to get the measles shot.A country loses its status when it has a sustained outbreak, or three or more linked cases, for more than 12 months. The Pan American Health Organization is expected to review infection data from the US and Mexico in November to determine whether the countries have lost their elimination designation. Canada lost its status in 2025. No vaccine is perfect, but the measles, mumps, and rubella shot provides 97% coverage against infection after two doses, the CDC says. A child typically receives the first dose as a 1-year-old, but the outbreaks have many parents asking whether newborns can receive the shots sooner. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants aged 6 through 11 months should get the shots during community outbreaks or before travel to an affected area. This year’s US outbreaks have infected hundreds of people in Texas detention facilities, in Utah and at a Catholic university in Florida. South Carolina had an outbreak in its upstate region that started in an Eastern European community that distrusted the shots and government recommendations. Residents in South Carolina’s epicenter and neighboring areas slowly came around to getting the shots and stopping the spread of disease, and in April the state was able to declare the outbreak had ended.—With assistance from Bill Haubert.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.