The U.S. has already shattered a grim measles record, with months still left in 2026. The nation has reported 2,295 measles cases this year as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s U.S. measles tracker, surpassing last year’s total of 2,289 and marking the highest annual count since 1991. It’s also the highest annual count since measles was declared eliminated in the country in 2000. “The fact that we’ve reached this total this early in the year is really a reflection of those large outbreaks earlier in the year, particularly in South Carolina and Utah,” William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. “It’s very frustrating. This is a reflection that we have been unable to stop measles virus transmission in this country.” Moss said the national tally would likely keep climbing as additional cases are reported. He cautioned against linking the resurgence to political debates over vaccines. The surge comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces scrutiny over comments questioning vaccine safety, a position that contradicts decades of research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization declared measles eliminated in the country in 2000 following successful vaccination efforts. International travel and growing vaccine hesitancy are thought to be behind its resurgence.
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