The United States has recorded more measles cases in 2026 than in any year since the disease was declared eliminated from the country in 2000, a milestone public health experts warn could signal a lasting shift toward a country where the once-vanquished virus regularly sickens thousands of people each year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that 2,318 confirmed measles cases have been reported so far this year, surpassing last year's record of more than 2,200 cases, which included two deaths among unvaccinated children. Taken together, more measles cases have now been reported in the United States over the past two years than during the entire quarter-century stretch from 2000 through 2024 combined.

Where the cases are coming from

Much of this year's case total traces back to a large outbreak that began in South Carolina last October within a close-knit evangelical Slavic community, which quickly grew into the largest single measles outbreak in the country since 2000. That outbreak ultimately sickened nearly 1,000 people before state health officials declared it over in April.

The virus has continued spreading elsewhere even after that outbreak ended. Utah is currently battling an outbreak that began along its border with Arizona last summer and has since grown to more than 700 cases spread across every jurisdiction in the state. Virginia health officials have reported more than 170 cases tied to an outbreak that started in mid-May, while Pennsylvania is dealing with a separate outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people this year. In total, the CDC has tracked 35........

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