The United States has broken its record for the highest number of measles cases in the country since the disease was eliminated in 2000.

It comes amid falling childhood vaccination rates and a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment fueled by lingering COVID-era distrust in public health authorities and a strengthening anti-vaccine movement.

Just halfway through the year, at least 1,277 cases have been confirmed across 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation.

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