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U.S. Measles Cases Hit Highest Level Since Disease Was Eliminated in 2000

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on July 8, 2025.

TUESDAY, July 8, 2025 — Measles cases in the United States have reached their highest level in 25 years, with more than 1,270 confirmed cases this year.

That number surpasses the last record of 1,274 cases set in 2019, according to new data from Johns Hopkins University.

Experts suspect the true number may be much higher, since many cases go unreported. So far this year, three people in the U.S. have died from measles: Two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico. All of them were unvaccinated, CNN reported.

“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” said Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association.

Measles — one of the world’s most contagious diseases — was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, due to widespread use of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The new cases dovetail with a significant drop in vaccination rates.

The biggest outbreak, more than 750 cases so far, started in West Texas in January. Gaines County, where the outbreak began, has one of the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the state.

Nearly 1 in 4 kindergartners there did not get their required measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot during the 2024–25 school year.

The outbreak has also spread to nearby areas in New Mexico and Oklahoma, and may be linked to cases in Kansas as well.

In all, at least 38 states have reported measles cases this year, with at least 27 separate outbreaks, CNN reported.

Air travel has also caused the disease to spread. In Colorado, an out-of-state visitor with measles flew while contagious, leading to several new cases, including people who were just at the airport at the same time.

Since 2000, the U.S. has usually seen about 180 cases per year. But now, experts worry the country may lose its measles-elimination status if cases linked to the Texas outbreak continue into 2026.

Measles spreads easily when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks. People can also get the virus from touching a contaminated surface like a doorknob.

About 1 in 8 people with measles this year have been hospitalized, and nearly 30% of cases have been in children under 5, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most were not vaccinated.

The MMR vaccine is very effective: One dose is 93% effective against measles and two doses are 97% effective.

In response to the outbreak, some states have expanded vaccine access — allowing infants to get their first MMR shot at 6 months old, instead of waiting until 1 year.

MMR vaccination rates in New Mexico have nearly doubled compared to last year, and Texas has seen a big increase, too.

Data from Truveta, a healthcare analytics company, shows that early vaccination among 6-month-olds in Texas is eight times higher than in 2019. In March and April, about 1 in 5 kids getting their first MMR dose had it before their first birthday.

Still, national vaccination rates are not where they need to be, experts warn. The U.S. goal is for 95% of kindergartners to get two MMR doses, but the country has missed that target for four years in a row, CNN said.

In the 2023–24 school year, more than 125,000 kindergartners were missing at least one required vaccine.

Public health leaders say the situation is getting worse because of growing distrust in vaccines and changes in federal health leadership.

The CDC, which sets the nation’s vaccine policy, still has no director, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a lengthy history of sharing anti-vaccine information.

In April, Kennedy made his strongest public statement yet supporting vaccines, but it clashed with his previous comments. Last month, he also dismissed the entire panel of vaccine experts that helps guide U.S. vaccination policy and installed some vaccine skeptics in their place.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted July 2025

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