Measles Update: February 6, 2026

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 733* cases of measles in the US as of February 5, 2026. This is up substantially from this time last week, when the federal agency reported there was 588* confirmed cases.¹ Week-over week that is an additional 145 cases and a 24.7% increase.

In releasing its figures, CDC said there were 727 measles cases in 20 jurisdictions including the following: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A total of 6 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the US. ¹

The federal agency reports “there have been 2 new outbreaks** reported in 2026, and 92% of confirmed cases (671 of 733) are outbreak-associated (9 from outbreaks in 2026 and 662 from outbreaks that started in 2025).” ¹

State MMR Vaccination Rates

In its reporting, CDC provided a graphic looking at individual state-wide vaccine rates and there are multiple states below the 95% MMR vaccine coverage rate. As reminder, local areas need to be at that percentage and higher in order to achieve herd immunity, which typically protects the greater population.

Vaccination coverage among kindergartners in the US has been decreasing for several straight years. The US had a national 95.2% MMR vaccination rate during the 2019–2020 school year, and was down to 92.5% in the 2024–2025 school year. This left approximately 286,000 kindergartners at risk during the 2024–2025 school year.¹

For the 2024-2025 school year, there are 15 states that were estimated to be below 90% vaccine coverage rate, and 23 states that were estimated to be between 90%-94.9% vaccine coverage rate. Two states (Montana and West Virginia) did not have any data. This means there are only 10 states with 95% or more vaccine coverage rate. This represents a minority of states with enough vaccine coverage to reach herd immunity. (See Table below.)

In looking at the individual states, Idaho had the lowest vaccine coverage rate at 78.5%, and conversely, Connecticut had the highest vaccine coverage rate with 98.2%.

CDC notes that for the 2024-2025 school year, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and New Jersey did not assess coverage for individual vaccines. Aside from Mississippi, none of those states were at 95% coverage the previous school year (2023-2024).

In an interview with Contagion earlier this week, Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said that misinformation and disinformation surrounding the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines made many people change their perspective on vaccines, with many Americans valuing freedom of choice over recommended public health policy.

“I think that the COVID-19 pandemic fueled, if you will, this so-called medical freedom movement, which is, ‘I'm going to make a decision that's best for myself and my family, independent of how it affects your family and independent of whether or not that's the best decision.’” Offit said.

“I think it's a real breakdown, in some ways, of a societal feeling. You know that you care about your neighbor, knowing that you may be sitting on the bus next to somebody who can't be vaccinated because they're getting chemotherapy for their cancer or immune-suppressive therapy for their autoimmune disease, [or] you may get on an elevator with someone like that and you don't care. And I think that's the tension. The tension is [that] on the one hand, you have public health, where you care about your neighbor, and on the other hand, you have medical freedom, where you don't. I think the COVID-19 vaccine supercharged that notion of medical freedom,” Offit said.

*It is important to note that the CDC says on its website that the federal agency is aware of probable measles cases being reported by jurisdictions. However, the data on this page only include confirmed cases that jurisdictions notified the CDC about. Therefore, there could be higher numbers in the US overall.

**CDC reports the cumulative number of measles outbreaks (defined as 3 or more related cases) that have occurred this year in the U.S.; states have the most up-to-date information about cases and outbreaks in their jurisdictions.

Contagion will continue to report weekly updates around the measles outbreak and gather commentary from vaccine experts, clinicians, and other interested stakeholders.

Reference

1.Measles Cases and Outbreaks. CDC. February 6, 2026. Accessed February 6, 2026.
https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html