International health experts have determined the United States has lost its status as a country that eliminated the continuous spread of measles, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official announcement is pending.
Losing measles-elimination status erases a major public health achievement the country attained 26 years ago and comes as the United States faces its worst outbreak of the disease in decades.
A committee of the Pan American Health Organization, part of the World Health Organization, had been meeting this week to determine if the United States had uninterrupted transmission of measles for more than 12 months. The committee is expected to officially announce its conclusions Tuesday.
The global review follows a resurgence that began with a major outbreak in West Texas in January 2025 and was followed by sustained outbreaks in Utah, Arizona and other states.
The decision had been widely expected by infectious-disease and public health experts for months because publicly available data have showed at least two separate chains of transmission extending beyond 12 months. Outbreaks in recent years have been driven largely by communities with low vaccination rates.
The PAHO decision was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The country has tallied more than 5,400 cases so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than double the total reported in 2025. Two more measles deaths were reported Friday, in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, bringing the U.S. toll this year to at least 10. In 2025, three people died of measles.
“The ferocious return of measles to the U.S. is a clear indicator that our children are at grave risk,” said Noel Brewer, a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina and chair of an independent U.S. committee that verifies the annual report on measles elimination to PAHO. The committee presented its findings to PAHO on Tuesday.
“It is time for CDC to begin daily measles briefings, the Department of Health and Human Services to release a comprehensive measles plan, Congress to allocate more funds to measles control efforts, and the President to speak out forcefully in favor of measles vaccination.”
Measles is the most contagious disease on Earth, but widespread vaccination stopped sustained transmission in the United States for decades. But in recent years, especially the past two years, large outbreaks have spread across multiple states.
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