U.S. measles cases hit 35-year high as outbreaks spread nationally

U.S. measles cases climbed to 2,295 as of Tuesday in Johns Hopkins University’s tracker, the highest annual total in 35 years and far above the 1,281 cases reported by July 7, 2025, when the country had already surpassed the previous modern record of 1,274 set in 1992. The increase is showing up in outbreaks across Texas, New Mexico, Washington and other states.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but that status depends on strong and even vaccine coverage. The 1989-1991 measles epidemic was severe enough to help prompt the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend a second dose of MMR, and the current surge is again exposing where protection is incomplete. Clusters of under-vaccination, school-entry exemptions and post-Covid distrust have left communities with enough susceptibility for the virus to move quickly from one unprotected household to the next.

The sharpest outbreaks have been concentrated in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. In Washington, state health officials warned on March 5 that measles remained a serious public health concern as the nation passed 1,100 cases for 2026; later state counts showed 26 cases in Washington, with more than half in Snohomish County, and officials said every reported case involved someone unvaccinated or with unknown vaccination status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory in early March 2025 for the Texas and New Mexico outbreak, which became one of the first major hot spots of the current resurgence.

Public-health officials are urging families to check MMR records now, especially before school entry, summer travel or close contact with infants and immunocompromised people. Schools are being pushed to tighten immunization review and use exclusion rules after exposures, while local governments are relying on outbreak alerts, vaccination outreach and exposure maps to identify neighborhoods where coverage is too low to stop transmission. The CDC updates its measles pages weekly, and Washington’s health department maintains a public exposure map for residents.