Another 178 Measles Cases Reported in the US in a Week, Taking the 2026 Total to 4,588
Federal health authorities in the United States have reported an additional 178 cases of measles this week, as the vaccine-preventable illness continues to sicken people across at least 43 outbreaks.
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country has recorded 4,588 measles cases in 2026 as of Friday — more than double the tally for the whole of 2025. Pennsylvania alone reported 1,338 cases on the same day, and the state has had the worst outbreak in the nation for months.
The CDC also reported large outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah, both of which are reporting more than 500 cases.
Despite the rising numbers, experts say official tallies represent an undercount of the disease. Measles is widely regarded as one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine.
Its most common symptoms — rash, runny nose, fever and cough — may not immediately send an infected person to a doctor, which is one reason cases can escape the official count.
Measles sends one in five unvaccinated people who become infected to hospital, and one to three people in every 1,000 die of disease-related complications. The measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing the disease, and its side effects include injection-site soreness and low-grade fever.
The counting of deaths has also become contentious. State authorities in Pennsylvania have reported five measles-associated deaths and are investigating a sixth. The CDC has reported three measles deaths nationally but has refused to say where the third death took place, obscuring whether it is counting a death in Pennsylvania or elsewhere.
According to Reuters, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr reportedly asked senior CDC officials in September to remove a measles death from the official tally after he questioned whether the disease contributed to the death. The episode comes as experts criticise the agency for a lack of transparency.
In the same week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced changes to vaccine injury reporting systems. Under one proposal, doctors will be able to bill for reporting suspected vaccine injuries, among other changes.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, has long been a fixation of the anti-vaccine movement. The system has proved useful for researchers tracking rare vaccine safety issues, but it has also become a source of misinformation, with activists pointing to it to make unfounded claims about safety. All vaccines have risks — a fact acknowledged by vaccinologists.
Kennedy's wider record as secretary forms part of the debate. Before his appointment, an expert panel considered each vaccine change individually to decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks; Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of that board and replaced them with members with whom he ideologically aligned, before a court blocked the appointments in March.
In his time as secretary, Kennedy has also misleadingly claimed children get more than 90 vaccine doses, linked vaccines to autism despite extensive evidence to the contrary, directed the CDC to remove claims that vaccines do not cause autism from its website, claimed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine contains 'aborted fetal debris', and stated that vitamin A and cod liver oil may help children with measles — which leading physicians described as misleading.
With infections still climbing, the death tally disputed and vaccine policy under argument, the US measles situation remains a major public health concern. Attention will stay on the CDC's next weekly figures and on what control measures follow.
