January 12, 2026

Over 2K Measles Cases Reported in US in 2025, Most in More Than 30 Years

By Isabella Gomez
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

January 12, 2026

ATLANTA, Ga. The number of measle cases in America continues to rise with more than 2000 known cases reported nationwide in 2025, the most reported in almost thirty years.

Some medical professionals believe that there is more anti-trust of the government since the COVID-19 Pandemic with misinformation about masks and vaccinations.
Another concern is that many religious bodies have been preaching against trusting immunizations for themselves or their children, even keeping kids home when schools require them.

Outbreaks in 2025 were well recorded in South Caroliana, along the border between Arizona and Utah and some areas of the heartland.
Dozens of measle cases are being recorded weekly threatening the measles elimination status that the US has held for a quarter-century.

As of December 30, 2025, there have been 2,065 confirmed measles cases in the US in 2025, according to data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last time there were more than 2,000 cases reported in one year was in 1992, just a couple years after health leaders updated recommendations to say that children should get two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine instead of just one.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known, but the MMR vaccine offers highly effective protection. One dose is 93% effective against measles infection, and two doses are 97% effective, according to the CDC.

However, vaccination rates have been falling for years. For the 2024-25 school year, just 92.5% of incoming kindergarteners had received the MMR vaccine, CDC data shows – below the 95% threshold that public health experts say is necessary to prevent outbreaks.

Parents in the South and Midwest have chosen to home school their children rather than vaccinate them but doctors say this doesn’t protect the children because they’re out in public shopping, playing with other children and in church exposing them to potential measles.

In early October, the South Carolina health department confirmed that there was a measles outbreak in the upstate region. That outbreak has spread to nearly 180 cases over the past four months and continues to grow; at least 20 new cases have been reported since Friday, and nearly 300 people are in quarantine because of exposure to a known case.

An outbreak on the Utah-Arizona line also continues to grow, with more than 350 cases reported between the two states in 2025.

Measles have been considered eliminated in the US since 2000, meaning no outbreaks or other chains of transmission have lasted longer than a year. But multiple large outbreaks in 2025 may be connected, which puts the elimination status on the line if cases continue to grow through late January.

An outbreak centered in West Texas that started in late January was declared over in mid-August. There were hundreds of related cases across Texas and New Mexico, and three unvaccinated people died: two children and one adult.

In 2025, measles were reported by 45 jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. A total of 25 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the United States.

The number of deaths from the measle outbreaks are still being calculated.

In November, the Pan American Health Organization, part of the World Health Organization, determined that Canada had lost its measles elimination status amid a large ongoing outbreak there.

“It’s important to say that all the other 34 countries in the region, they keep their certification as measles-free,” PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said at the time.

What 2026 will bring is unclear as the government can’t force anyone to be inoculated against and disease or illness.

The trajectory that we’re looking at now is that we do anticipate more cases well into January. What that means for us nationally in terms of how they are defining our designation in this country as having eliminated measles is unclear.”