The United States has recorded 2,073 confirmed measles cases across 40 jurisdictions as of June 11, 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, with the outbreak showing no signs of deceleration as a November Pan American Health Organization review of North American elimination status approaches.
The current count is the highest annual total since 1992, when 2,126 cases were reported. The country was declared free of endemic measles transmission in 2000, a status defined as the absence of continuous transmission chains lasting 12 months or more. The 2026 outbreak has now logged cases in 40 of 50 states plus the District of Columbia and several territories, driven primarily by unvaccinated individuals in under-immunised communities concentrated in parts of the Midwest, West, and Northeast.
The outbreak crossed the 1,000-case threshold in March — a psychological and epidemiological milestone — prompting the first formal PAHO advisory on North American elimination status since Canada’s 2011 setback. At the current trajectory, the 2026 total will rank among the ten highest annual figures in the post-elimination era globally.
The two-dose MMR vaccine remains highly effective, with population-level studies consistently reporting effectiveness above 97% against clinical measles in fully vaccinated individuals. Neither the CDC nor the American Academy of Pediatrics has altered the childhood vaccination schedule in response to the outbreak.
The implications of losing elimination status are primarily formal and diplomatic rather than immediately clinical: the PAHO designation affects trade and travel health advisories and carries significant public health signal value. The November assessment is not an automatic decertification; PAHO considers trajectory, geographic concentration, and control measures alongside case count. But at 2,073 cases and rising, U.S. public health authorities have limited margin.
The outbreak has prompted vaccination exemption legislation in at least six states, with two measures having passed their respective legislative chambers as of mid-June.