United States: According to a new tally, there has been a larger number of reported measles cases in the US this year than in any other year since the elimination of the disease in the country a quarter of a century ago.
More than 1,277 cases have been reported so far up to Monday, and this exceeds the 2019 record, and this is despite the fact that 2020 is not yet halfway through, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health US Measles Tracker.
More about the news
Researchers attributed the surge in cases to so-called long-standing deficiencies in measles vaccine coverage and added that almost all of the cases this year, or approximately 92%, have been reported in those who remain unvaccinated or whose vaccination status remains unknown.
According to the executive director of Johns Hopkins’ International Vaccine Access Center, William Moss, who co-leads the school’s measles tracking project, “The US is at risk of losing its measles elimination status should cases continue at this rate,” huffpost.com reported.
The U.S. is having its worst year for measles spread in more than three decades, with a total of 1,288 cases nationally and another six months to go in 2025. https://t.co/X4nMyZN5HL
— WJBF (@WJBF) July 9, 2025
“As vaccine confidence continues to be undermined, immunization is more important than ever to end this outbreak and prevent future outbreaks from occurring,” Moss added.
Vaccination coverage against the deadly disease has been declining over the past few years, with the immunization levels of kindergarteners in the US decreasing to 92.7 percent by the 2023-2024 school year, down 2.5 percentage points from 2013-2014.
When the coverage rate is 95 or below, children are at a high risk of localized outbreaks because a high vaccine rate is required to attain community immunity, which is sometimes referred to as herd immunity, which the CDC explains is required at a rate that is greater than 95%.
Health officials said around 88 percent of this year’s count of confirmed cases were linked to 27 known outbreaks.
In comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported in 2024, to which 69 percent of the 285 confirmed cases of the year were connected. In 2000, the disease was announced eliminated in the US, as huffpost.com reported.
The credit for this process was given by the CDC to a very efficient vaccination program and more control of measles in the Americas region.
It represented one of the greatest-rated accomplishments of public health since there was apparently no uninterrupted transmission in excess of 12 months.