US Measles Cases Pass 5,000 for First Time in 35 Years as Three Deaths Are Reported in One Week

The United States has recorded 5,182 measles cases so far in 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. It is the first time the annual total has passed 5,000 in more than three decades, and the highest total since 1991.

The count, through November 5, rose by 330 cases from the agency’s previous update. It came in a week in which three Americans died of measles: an infant in Wisconsin died of measles, an unvaccinated resident of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, died after testing positive for the virus, and a child in Lewis County, New York, died after contracting measles.

The CDC has confirmed four measles deaths this year, already more than the three reported in all of 2025. State health departments have reported eight deaths this year, according to NBC News. The CDC has said it will update its count as additional information becomes available and reviews are completed.

The Wisconsin infant’s death was the state’s first from measles since 1990, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said on Thursday. A coroner listed measles as the immediate cause of death, and the department said it would release no further details about the child.

Wisconsin has recorded 431 cases across 13 counties this year, its largest outbreak in more than three decades, with nine people hospitalized. The state reported 36 cases in all of 2025.

“My heart is broken for the family,” said Kirsten Johnson, secretary of the state’s health department. “Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease. Measles can cause serious illness and death, and it is important for all Wisconsinites to evaluate their risk and take steps to protect themselves and their family.”

Vaccination rates have slipped below the threshold

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is about 97 percent effective at preventing measles after two doses, according to the CDC. But the share of kindergarten children vaccinated against measles fell from 95.2 percent in the 2019-20 school year to 92.4 percent in 2025-26, below the roughly 95 percent coverage needed to stop the virus from spreading in a community. About 280,000 kindergarten children are now estimated to be at risk.

In Wisconsin, the vaccination rate among kindergarteners is about 85 percent. “That’s really the central issue here: Measles is now spreading because there are enough people who are susceptible to infection for the virus to continue finding new hosts,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Wisconsin’s chief medical officer and state epidemiologist for communicable diseases.

Across the country, 96 percent of this year’s cases have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, and 96 percent are linked to 43 outbreaks. Some 562 people, or 11 percent of all cases, have been hospitalized.

Outbreaks in Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Pennsylvania has reported 1,467 cases across 44 counties this year, and the Jefferson County resident was the sixth person in the state to die from measles this year. Kentucky has reported 204 cases, its largest surge since 1991.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning the virus no longer spread continuously within the country. An international meeting to decide the status of measles elimination in the United States is scheduled for next week.

Wisconsin health officials updated their guidance this week to recommend an early dose of MMR vaccine for certain infants between 6 and 11 months of age who face an increased risk of exposure during the outbreak. The vaccine is normally first given at 12 to 15 months, with a second dose at 4 to 6 years.

Reporting based on coverage by CNN and US News Pulse.