More Measles Cases in Past Two Years Than in the Previous 25 Combined

The U.S. has recorded 2,318 cases of measles this year, the highest number reported in 35 years, according to new figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In just the first seven months of the year, we’ve already had more cases than in all of 2025, when a total of 2,289 cases were recorded.

Looking back at annual measles counts since 2000, when the virus was declared eliminated in the U.S., there have been more cases in just the past two years than in all the years from 2000 to 2024 combined.

To give you an idea of how much progress we’ve lost: The U.S. only recorded 86 annual cases when measles was declared eliminated twenty-six years ago. Over the next decade, there were only two years with annual totals exceeding 100 cases.

So far this year, the CDC has reported 35 outbreaks of measles, almost entirely among people who were unvaccinated. Some cases have also been documented among babies too young to be vaccinated and among people with health conditions who cannot receive the vaccine. Children make up more than 70% of confirmed cases.

Vaccination coverage has fallen significantly in recent years, dropping from 95.2% among kindergartners in 2019-2020 to its current rate of 92.5%. A vaccination rate of approximately 95% is needed to achieve and maintain herd immunity.

The percentage of kindergarteners receiving exemptions for one or more vaccines has also climbed over the past decade, from 2.1% in 2016-2017 to 3.6% in the 2024-2025 school year, the most recent year for which that data is available.

Although the COVID pandemic contributed to the drop in vaccination rates, research strongly suggests that vaccine misinformation and resulting misperceptions have also played a major role.