measles

CDC reports more than 5,000 measles cases, highest number in 35 years

The CDC reports 5,182 confirmed measles cases in the United States in 2026, the highest annual total since 1991, with children and teenagers accounting for about 59 percent of cases. The surge comes as kindergarten vaccination coverage has fallen from 95.2 percent in 2019-2020 to 92.4 percent in 2025-2026. A dispute between Pennsylvania officials and US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr over how measles deaths are classified has left the federal toll of four deaths below the six reported by the hardest-hit state.