It’s a loss of achievement, said Nuzzo, as the United States faces the potential revocation of its measles elimination status.
The United States is on the brink of losing its measles elimination status, a celebrated distinction it has held since 2000, when the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) determined the country had interrupted endemic transmission of the virus.
The Pan American Health Organization’s Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission convened in Washington, D.C., to review epidemiological and laboratory evidence submitted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a 2021 book wrote that Americans had been "misled … into believing that measles is a deadly disease." He said measles outbreaks had been "fabricated" to push people towards vaccines. https://t.co/lBXK42mpjj pic.twitter.com/lo7ZA0nv8F
The review follows a surge of 5,182 confirmed measles cases reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2026 from 45 states, New York City, and the District of Columbia. That figure surpasses last year’s total of 2,289 confirmed cases, marking the country’s worst measles resurgence in decades.
National MMR vaccination coverage among kindergartners fell to 92.4 percent for the 2025–26 school year, down from 95.2 percent during the 2019–20 school year. To reach herd immunity against measles, 95 percent of a community must be vaccinated.
Rates vary across the country, and a study in Nature Health identified numerous counties nationwide with MMR vaccination coverage under 60 percent.
“They will be the ones that are most vulnerable to getting infected and experiencing the complications,” such as pneumonia or encephalitis, Awan said.
Resurgent outbreaks carry a financial burden alongside public health consequences. A tool developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University estimates an economic cost of nearly $83 million for the outbreaks.
Eight deaths associated with the disease have been confirmed by states so far in 2026: six in Pennsylvania, one in New York and one in Wisconsin. A country loses measles elimination status if transmission is re-established and continues uninterrupted for at least 12 months, according to PAHO’s Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission (RVC).
“It’s not like your health department is sitting around waiting for measles outbreaks,” he said. “But if you have these outbreaks popping up and you’re having to constantly divert resources that could be spent elsewhere by state and local health departments on measles, then you’re going to wind up spending a lot of money very quickly.”
Earlier coverage: PAHO Revokes US Measles Elimination Status, Reports Say