United States records 5,182 confirmed measles cases, the highest count reported by the CDC since 1991

7 November 2026

Confirmed cases of measles in the United States now stand at 5,182 for the year, on figures put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and no year since 1991 has seen the agency report so many. Vaccines prevent the disease, yet it spreads very easily. Of the confirmed cases, 18 per cent are in children under five and 41 per cent in those aged five to nineteen, so roughly 59 per cent in all are children and teenagers. Outbreaks account for the bulk of them, 4,993 cases. Protection among children entering kindergarten has slipped over six school years, from 95.2 per cent down to 92.4 per cent. Against 2,289 cases confirmed the previous year, the present count is more than twice as high. Four deaths appear in the agency tally, while the worst-hit state, Pennsylvania, puts its own toll at six deaths out of 1,487 cases.