The United States has already seen more than half the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2025, with experts predicting a record year for cases in the country. File Photo by Annie Rice/EPA
Feb. 27 (UPI) — The United States has reported more than 1,100 measles cases in 2026 so far, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Thursday, the United States has recorded 1,136 cases of measles, which is six times more than a typical year, the CDC said. The majority of those cases were in 28 states, and six measles cases were reported among international visitors.
The CDC said that of every 1,000 children infected with measles, one might develop encephalitis — brain inflammation — and up to three will die.
In 2025, there were 2,281 cases all year, with 242 of them hospitalized and three deaths. Two of those deaths were children in Texas and one was an adult in New Mexico, and all of whom were unvaccinated.
“That’s in that range of one to three deaths per 1,000 [cases]. So, can we expect another death? Yes, I think we’re getting there where we can expect another death,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease physician and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “And it is unconscionable.”
“When more people are choosing not to vaccinate their children, you’re going to see more disease, more suffering, more hospitalization and more death,” Offit told CNN. “Children are dying from a vaccine-preventable disease because their parents are choosing not to vaccinate them, and they’re choosing not to vaccinate them because they fear the vaccine more than they fear the disease.”
So far this year, there have been 58 people hospitalized, with no deaths.
Of those infected, 96% are in people who haven’t taken the recommended two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
The state with the highest number in 2026 has been South Carolina, with 653 cases, followed by Utah with 149 and Florida with 107. In 2025, Texas had the most with 803.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000.
At the time, the only way to get it was to travel abroad and bring it home. But since then, the rise of anti-vaccine sentiment has contributed to decreasing vaccination rates and a comeback of the infection.
The increase in measles outbreaks is “disappointing and depressing and ominous,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN.
“Measles is a fierce infection, and we should be preventing it. It can strike any healthy, normal child in its most severe fashion,” Schaffner said.
In South Carolina, the majority of cases have been in Spartanburg County, where there are low vaccination rates. No deaths have been reported yet, but the state has seen complications like pneumonia and encephalitis, which can leave a patient deaf or with intellectual disability.
“These are complications we hope to prevent, and increasing vaccination coverage protects those who cannot be vaccinated, like young infants, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems,” South Carolina State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said earlier this month.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a press conference after the weekly Republican Senate caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
