The United States has lost its measles elimination status after 26 years, as the death toll from the disease this year reached 10, with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each reporting a new death on Friday. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization's regional office for the Americas, revoked the status the country had held since 2000, the Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday, and a source close to the process confirmed to CNN.
The decision means measles is considered endemic in the United States again. A country loses elimination status when the same strain of the virus spreads within its borders without interruption for at least 12 months. An independent panel of eight experts reviewed the evidence in Washington this week, with its annual meeting running through November 13, and the formal announcement is expected on Tuesday, November 17.
Pennsylvania's health department said an unvaccinated resident of Montour County, in the east-central part of the state, had tested positive for measles and died. Wisconsin's health department said a child in Grant County, in the state's south-west, had died. Pennsylvania has now recorded seven measles-associated deaths this year, Wisconsin two and New York one. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists six measles-related deaths, fewer than the states have reported.
The CDC's weekly update on November 13 put the 2026 case total at 5,412, up 230 in a week — the 14th week in a row that federal figures have risen by more than 100. It is the highest number of cases since 1991 and more than double the 2,289 confirmed cases reported in 2025. About one in nine reported cases has resulted in hospitalisation, according to the CDC.
Evidence of sustained transmission has been building for months. In August, scientists at Utah's public health laboratory published a preprint study showing the same strain of measles had been circulating in the state for more than a year, accounting for more than 95 per cent of cases there. Canada lost its own elimination status last year after a lengthy outbreak spanning several provinces.
The loss follows years of falling vaccination rates, and it is a black mark on the nation's public health policy. The United States can re-establish its elimination status once it shows outbreak transmission has been interrupted for at least 12 months. CDC Director Dr Erica Schwartz said in November that the agency would not fundamentally change its response to outbreaks even if the United States loses its elimination status. The United States has dropped out of the World Health Organization but remains a member of PAHO, its Americas branch.
