MAP: States report new measles cases as virus surpasses alarming benchmark

The CDC has confirmed 2,318 cases of measles across all but seven U.S. states. The nation had 2,289 cases in 2025, the worst year for measles in more than three decades. Now, 2026 has easily become the U.S.'s worst year for measles since 1991. Early in the year, the biggest outbreak was easily in South Carolina. In the past few months, hundreds of measles cases have been confirmed in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Virginia. The U.S. is now at risk of losing its measles elimination status, a designation it has held since 2000. "Regardless of what is determined about the country's measles elimination status, the reality is that the United States has more measles cases this year than it has in decades," said Dr. William Moss, an epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.