The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday there were 3,134 confirmed measles cases in the country so far this year, marking the highest annual total in more than 35 years.
Of the total, 3,118 cases were reported across 47 U.S. jurisdictions, while 16 were among international visitors.
The CDC has recorded 38 new outbreaks this year compared to 48 in 2025.
Measles-related hospitalizations this year stand at 248, or 8% of cases, compared with 244 hospitalizations and three deaths in 2025.
The CDC has not included two measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania on August 25 while it reviews whether the disease caused or contributed to the deaths.
According to a Reuters report, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to the two deaths from the agency’s online measles tally.
About 94% of cases were among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
The rise in measles cases over the past two years has coincided with a steady decline in childhood MMR vaccination rates since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overall 2026 tally is the highest in a single year since a major resurgence between 1989 and 1991, when more than 55,000 infections and 123 deaths were recorded.
