Children and adolescents account for almost 60 percent of confirmed cases.
Published on November 7, 2026
A total of 5,182 confirmed cases of measles have been reported in the United States so far in 2026, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The figure for this highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease is the highest figure reported by the CDC since 1991.
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Children under the age of five account for 18 percent of cases, while children aged five to 19 account for 41 percent of cases.
In total, children and adolescents make up about 59 percent of confirmed cases.
The majority of cases, a total of 4,993, were associated with an outbreak.
The outbreak comes as vaccination coverage among kindergarten students in the United States has declined from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in the 2025-2026 school year.
The number of confirmed cases in November 2026 is more than double the 2,289 confirmed measles cases reported in 2025.
Dispute over death toll
According to CDC data, four people died from measles in 2026.
However, the agency’s national death toll is lower than the number of measles-related deaths reported by state authorities, including in Pennsylvania, the state hardest hit by the outbreak.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has reported six deaths and 1,487 cases this year.
The federal tally has been at the center of a dispute between Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr over how measles deaths are classified.
Pennsylvania reports “measles-associated” deaths after a person with confirmed measles dies within 30 days of symptom onset, unless the death resulted from an unrelated event.
In August, Pennsylvania reported that two unvaccinated people died from measles. The CDC initially included the deaths in its national tally but later removed them after Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, questioned whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths.
The CDC said it is working with the U.S. Council of State and territorial epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition of measles deaths.
Infectious disease experts warn that the dispute over how to classify deaths puts the CDC at odds with a long-standing approach to tracking the consequences of measles.
Epidemiologists told Al Jazeera that tracking “measles-associated” deaths has long been a standard used by the World Health Organization and the CDC.
The United States declared the virus eliminated more than twenty years ago. Measles cases have also increased globally, particularly in communities that are skeptical of vaccines or where there are gaps in access to health care.
Experts warn that falling vaccination rates in one geographic area can leave people thousands of miles away vulnerable, making measles prevention a shared global responsibility.
Gn Health
