What’s going on: The United States is on track to lose its measles elimination status largely thanks to an ongoing outbreak in Utah. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve been inching closer for a while. The US declared itself measles-free in 2000, but as vaccination rates decline, dozens of states have faced outbreaks of the highly contagious infection. Utah’s has been particularly challenging due to a lack of public health resources. Last year’s 2,288 measles cases marked a 34-year high. Less than halfway through 2026, the US has already confirmed 2,073 cases. We’ll be assessed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in November to determine whether we’ll join Canada, which lost its elimination status last year. Not exactly the solidarity we’d hoped for with our neighbors to the north.
How we got here: Vaccine skepticism has always existed, but when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rejects the severity of measles and throws support behind vaccine exemptions, it’s easy to see mixed messaging has consequences. Still, 84% of Americans believe vaccines work, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Jay Bhattacharya, the CDC’s new acting director, also backs the measles vaccination, but it might be too late to put the syringe back in the medicine bottle. The CDC has said that measles anywhere is a threat because the disease can spread so quickly, and with a deadly outbreak in Bangladesh, cases on the rise in Virginia, and more than a million travelers coming to the US for the FIFA World Cup, the status of our status doesn’t look promising.
