US reportedly loses longstanding measles elimination status as cases surge nationwide
The Pan American Health Organization has reportedly stripped the US of its measles-elimination status after 26 years, as the country battles its worst outbreaks in more than three decades.
- An international health organization has determined that the United States has lost its measles elimination status, according to multiple news reports.
- The measles elimination status hinges on whether the same strain of measles stays in circulation for 12 months or longer without a break.
- While most measles cases aren't severe, they can have long-lasting effects because of the way the virus can suppress the body's immune responses, leaving people more susceptible to other infections.
Stephanie Widmer, a New York City-based emergency medicine physician and Fox News medical contributor, said the loss of measles elimination status is a "public health setback," emphasizing the danger posed by the infection.
WISCONSIN INFANT DIES OF MEASLES AS STATE SEES FIRST DEATH FROM DISEASE SINCE 1990 The country has held elimination status since 2000.
- Canada and the United Kingdom have both lost their measles elimination status over the past year.
- Pennsylvania is in the grip of an outbreak that has accounted for more than 1,500 cases so far and six measles-associated deaths.
- and funding cuts for response efforts have all factored in the surge of cases, according to public health experts.
- By the numbers: There have been 5,412 confirmed cases so far this year, compared to 2,289 for all of 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest tally.
- "It is unthinkable that people in the United States should be dying from measles in 2026," the Infectious Diseases Society said in comments prior to the decision.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →