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The United States has recorded measles case counts not seen in 35 years during the first seven months of 2026, according to official figures released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.
Health officials confirmed 2,318 cases of the highly contagious virus, officially surpassing the 2,289 total cases recorded throughout all of 2025.
The rapid surge represents the highest case volume since 1991, when the country reported 9,643 cases before expanded two-dose vaccination coverage brought transmission under control.
Measles presents with fever, respiratory symptoms, and severe skin rashes but can rapidly progress to life-threatening complications, including pneumonia and brain inflammation.
Although health authorities declared measles eradicated in the United States in 2000 following widespread adoption of the vaccine, falling immunisation rates have enabled a sharp resurgence.
Critics point to anti-vaccine rhetoric and rising public distrust in health institutions—including scepticism promoted by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr—as key drivers behind the declining coverage.
American Academy of Paediatrics President Andrew Racine condemned the surge as an avoidable crisis that disproportionately harms children, emphasising that public health agencies must not accept recurring outbreaks as a new normal when proven immunisations exist to prevent infection entirely.
