Childhood vaccine coverage and massively smoldering outbreaks that flare up in the unbacterized pockets of West Texas have had more measles incidents than any other milestone since it was eliminated in the US a quarter century ago.
There were at least 1,277 confirmed cases of measles reported in the US in 2025, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation. Midway through the year, the Case Tally is already ahead of its last record in 2019, with a total of 1,274 cases.
Experts say this year’s incident is likely to be severely underestimated, as many people have not been reported. Three people died of measles this year. Two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom weren’t vaccinated.
In 2000, measles was declared excluded in the United States. In other words, there was no continuous transmission at a time for more than a year. Achieving this status was a “historic public health outcome,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most commonly used measles-mumpsulvera (MMR) vaccine was first widely available in the United States in the 1970s.
CDC data shows an average of 180 measles cases have been reported each year since the disease was declared eliminated earlier this year.
In 2019, a massive outbreak in New York threatened its exclusion status. These outbreaks are concentrated in the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County, which have targeted anti-vaccine disinformation for years.
This year, the majority of measles is in Texas, with over 750 confirmed cases linked to one outbreak that began in late January. If incidents related to the outbreak continue to accumulate until January next year, the US could lose its measles removal status.
Most of these cases have more than 400 cases in Gaines County since the start of the year, with vaccination rates well below recommended levels. From 2024-25, nearly one in four kindergarteners in Gaines County did not have the MMR vaccine needed. This is one of the worst rates in the state.
Dozens of cases in New Mexico and Oklahoma are also linked to the West Texas outbreak, and it could also lead to lawsuits reported in Kansas.
Special vaccination clinics that rose to response to the outbreak have brought additional compensation to thousands of people. Many affected counties have also implemented expanded vaccination guidance, allowing infants to get their first shots at as early as six months, rather than waiting until a year. New Mexico has received almost twice the MMR vaccine this year than at this point, according to data from the state health department.
Also, a recent analysis of health records by healthcare data and analytics firm Truveta shows that early vaccination rates jumped among toddlers in Texas. Texas’ six-month-old MMR vaccination rates this year were more than eight times higher than in 2019, with about one in five people who were filmed for Texas’ first measles in March and April getting early before their first birthday.
However, as new incidents related to the West Texas outbreak slowed, cases continue to accumulate across the country. There were at least 27 total occurrences (defined as three or more related cases) and at least 38 The state has reported at least one case this year.
Cases rose rapidly in Colorado last month, leading to multiple cases among passengers on the same plane when out-of-state travelers flew while infected, while other cases and others spread from those cases among those who were at the airport at the same time.
Other cases among Colorado residents were associated with a trip to Chihuahua, Mexico. There is also a large outbreak that is concentrated among the local Mennonite population. Another major outbreak has been occurring in Ontario, Canada, which was linked to multiple lawsuits in Michigan. At least one person died of measles this year in Canada, and nine people died in Mexico.
In April, Mexico issued warnings to people traveling to the US and Canada due to high measles case rates. The CDC also strengthened its guidance for travelers, advised that international travelers should be vaccinated with two MMR vaccines.
The majority of cases in the US this year came from people who have not been vaccinated. According to the CDC, only about 8% of confirmed cases are confirmed in people who have given one or two doses of the MMR vaccine. According to CDC data, at least 155 people with measles (about 1 per 8 cases) have been hospitalized this year, with 28% of cases in children under the age of five.
The MMR vaccine is safe and extremely effective. One dose is 93% effective against measles, and two doses are 97% effective, but measles is one of the most susceptible diseases in the world.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a goal of getting two doses of the Measles-Munz-Rubella (MMR) vaccine, a threshold required to prevent the outbreak of highly contagious diseases. The US has now not reached that threshold for the fourth year in a row.
Data released in October shows that the record share of U.S. kindergarten children were exempt from 2023-24 for vaccinations required from 2023-24, without compensation for at least one nationally mandatory vaccine.
When measles cases reached previous records under the first Trump administration in 2019, both the HHS secretary and the CDC director issued a statement highlighting the safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine and encouraging Americans to be vaccinated.
However, CDC is still not available There is no director. HHS Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long and complicated history with the measles vaccine.
In April, when around 600 measles cases were found in the US, Kennedy still had the strongest support of vaccination, in stark contrast to his long-standing work on measles vaccines. And last month, Kennedy rejected a panel of experts of vaccine advisors who historically guided federal vaccine recommendations.
“The move will further promote the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases due to the ongoing outbreak of measles and the rates of daily vaccination for children,” Dr. Bruce A. Scott of the American Medical Association said in a statement at the time.
