U.S. Measles Surge Risks Loss Of Elimination Status
A resurgence tied to low vaccination coverage has produced hundreds of cases in South Carolina and over 2,200 nationwide, prompting an international review.
Chicago TribuneThe US is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. Here’s why that matters.
CBS NewsMeasles cases surge in South Carolina as U.S. risks losing elimination status
NBC NewsAfter a year marked by measles outbreaks across the U.S., is the virus now endemic?
PBS NewsHourThe U.S. is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status
Overview
LEAD: The South Carolina Department of Health announced an additional 88 measles cases on Tuesday, bringing the state's total to 646 cases since Oct. 2025, officials confirmed, making Spartanburg County the current epicenter of U.S. transmission.
CONTEXT: The United States has been considered to have eliminated measles since 2000 but global public health authorities consider a virus endemic after 12 months of continuous local transmission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 49 outbreaks and 2,242 measles cases in 2025, according to CDC records.
RESPONSE: Dr. Ralph Abraham, principal deputy director of the CDC, told reporters on a Tuesday call that losing elimination status is "not really" significant and defended "communities that choose to be unvaccinated," a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has consistently emphasized vaccines while the department has no evidence of a single uninterrupted 12-month transmission chain, and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis said on a Public Health Watch call that elimination has "already lost," according to participants.
SCALE: The outbreaks produced 2,242 confirmed cases across 44 states in 2025 with 49 distinct outbreaks, 171 confirmed U.S. cases in 2026 as of Jan. 13 per the CDC, 646 cases in South Carolina since Oct. 2025 per the state health department, and Canada recorded more than 5,000 cases since Oct. 2024 and lost elimination status in November, while national MMR coverage stood at about 92.5% with 39 states below the 95% threshold in the 2024-25 school year, according to CDC and KFF data and Canadian public health records.
FORWARD: The Pan American Health Organization will make the final determination on U.S. measles elimination status during an upcoming review—PAHO spokesperson Sebastian Oliel and other outlets have cited an April meeting while Noel Brewer, who chairs the U.S. expert committee preparing an analysis for PAHO, has said a formal decision may not arrive until November—as federal and state agencies complete reviews, ramp up targeted vaccination campaigns and contact tracing, and the CDC said it will continue investigations into whether there has been sustained transmission.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources portray the U.S. measles resurgence as a preventable public-health failure, emphasizing vaccination declines and administrative missteps. They foreground independent public-health experts and data, use evaluative verbs ("shrug off," "sown doubt"), and highlight government inaction while presenting quoted dissent as source content rather than editorial endorsement.