CDC Reports 2,318 Measles Cases — the Most Since the Disease Was Declared Eliminated in 2000

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on July 24, 2026 that 2,318 measles cases have been confirmed in the United States this year, surpassing 2025's record of 2,289 and marking the highest total since measles was declared eliminated in the country in 2000. The CDC has recorded 35 outbreaks this year, and more cases have been reported in the past two years than in all years from 2000 through 2024 combined. Many trace to a South Carolina outbreak that ended in April; another that began on the Utah-Arizona line has spread through Utah.

Elimination status measures whether sustained domestic transmission has been interrupted; losing it would formally mark the reversal of a decades-long achievement, and a panel meets in November to decide. Local officials describe capacity strain: San Francisco's communicable disease medical director said two cases this year required activating several contact-tracing investigators and that the department could not handle more than one at a time.

An HHS spokesperson said the department mounted an "aggressive outbreak response," gave $8.5 million to states, and said MMR vaccination remains the best protection. A former chair of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee said there has been "virtually no national messaging."