Measles cases in the U.S. have reached a 33-year high, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI). The center reports that there are now 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of Columbia, the highest annual tally since 1992. The U.S. achieved measles-free status in 2000, but the troubling upward trajectory of cases puts that reputation at risk. “It’s a harbinger of things to come,” Eric Ball, a leading pediatrician, told the Washington Post. “Once we see a resurgence of measles, we know that other diseases are going to come behind it.” Even amid a flurry of vaccine disinformation, the rate of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella vaccine) jabs administered in 2019 was at 95 percent—the rate experts believe curtails outbreaks. It has now slid to below 93 percent, and outbreaks are occurring in dozens of states. Anti-vaccine messaging and distrust in federal health agencies have contributed to the nadir. Three people have died of measles-related complications this year, while 155 people have been hospitalized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that just three people died of measles complications in the period between 2001 and 2024.
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