Measles cases in the United States have passed 5,000 in a single year for the first time in 35 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as an infant in Wisconsin died of the disease — the third measles death reported in the country in a single week.
The CDC counted 5,182 confirmed cases as of November 5, the most since 1991 and more than double the total for all of 2025. Cases have been reported in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., with 330 new cases added in the latest week alone.
Wisconsin health officials said on Thursday that an infant died of measles, the state's first measles death since 1990. A county coroner listed measles as the infant's immediate cause of death. Officials did not release the child's age or say whether the infant had other health conditions. Wisconsin has recorded 431 measles cases across 13 counties this year, along with nine hospitalizations, in what officials describe as the state's largest outbreak in more than three decades.
The Wisconsin death followed two others reported this week: a child in Lewis County, New York, on Monday and a Pennsylvania resident on Wednesday. State health departments have reported eight measles-associated deaths in 2026, six of them in Pennsylvania. The CDC has confirmed four of the eight deaths, saying its number is subject to change as reviews are completed.
Wisconsin Health Secretary Kirsten Johnson called the infant's death a tragedy tied to a vaccine-preventable disease. Health officials across the country have urged parents to make sure children are up to date on the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which is highly effective at preventing infection.
The outbreak's scale is now drawing international scrutiny. A Pan American Health Organization committee is expected to review next week whether measles has re-established itself in the United States, a finding that could cost the country its measles elimination status, held since 2000.
