The number of measles cases in the U.S. this year just rose above the 1,500 mark, with surges of the highly contagious virus reported in Utah, Texas and Florida.
There have been 1,566 domestic cases confirmed across 30 states, and nine reported among international visitors, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Both 2025 and 2026 year have marked two of the worst years for measles since the U.S. eliminated the preventable disease in 2000.
Last year saw a total of 2,285 confirmed measles cases, including just several hundred in March 2025. The worst of the outbreaks ballooned in the later months, including in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah.
Since then, states have played whack-a-mole in hopes to keep outbreaks contained and ensure no further deaths. There were three deaths last year.
Hot spots
Utah’s 2026 case count reached 486 last week, with 107 reported over the last three weeks, according to data from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Young and old Utahns have been exposed at a high school play, a temple open house, a family fun center, grocery stores and health care facilities, according to KSL.com.
To the south, measles detected at Texas federal detention centers spread to at least four El Paso residents who were working there, The Texas Tribune reported, citing emails obtained through record requests.
The Lone Star State now has 170 cases, a CDC map shows.
And in Florida, state data revealed that the number of cases had climbed to over 140, with the majority tied to an outbreak at Collier County’s Catholic Ave Maria University.
That’s largely thanks to lower vaccination rates and the majority of measles cases are in adults and children who hadn’t received one or both of the two necessary vaccine doses.
97 percent
Two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine provide 97 percent protection against measles, according to the CDC.
There have been a handful of breakthrough infections this year. While 92 percent of the nation’s measles cases were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, four percent were fully vaccinated, the agency’s data shows.
No measles deaths have been reported since January – but all three deaths in 2025 were unvaccinated individuals, including two young children.
In unvaccinated patients, measles can lead to pneumonia, ear infections, fever, a red-colored rash and brain swelling known as encephalitis.
Encephalitis left South Carolina seven-year-old Ethan bed-ridden, his parents, who chose not to immunize their son, previously told The Independent.
“He's pretty much as if he was paralyzed,” Ethan’s father Luis, 41, said.
Wait and see
The outbreak in South Carolina, which has been the largest this year, confirmed no new measles cases on Friday, keeping the state’s total at 997 since March 17.
If no new cases are reported by April 26, the outbreak will be over.
“A period of 42 days with no new cases is required to declare an end to a measles outbreak. This is double the number of days for an incubation period (21 days) and a clear indicator of a broken transmission chain,” the South Carolina Department of Public Health said.
America’s future with measles is less clear.
A meeting to determine whether or not the U.S. has lost its elimination status – indicating that there has not been continuous spread of the highly infectious disease for more than a year – has been delayed to November to “simplify and standardize the assessment process,” according to an email to CNN.
It will assess the spread of measles since the start of America’s current outbreak on January 20, 2025.
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