Reports Say US Loses Measles Elimination Status After 26 Years

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has revoked the measles elimination status of the United States, ending a designation the country has held since 2000, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters.¹ The decision follows a finding of uninterrupted measles transmission in the US for more than 12 months.¹ PAHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.¹

The decision comes at the close of the sixth annual meeting of PAHO’s Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission (RVC), held November 10 to 13, 2026.² Before the meeting, Canada was the only country in the Americas classified as endemic for measles, having lost its status in 2025.² The RVC first invited the US and Mexico to a review in April 2026, following outbreaks beginning January 20, 2025, in the US and February 1, 2025, in Mexico.³

The RVC defines re-established endemic transmission as a chain involving a viral strain of identical genotype and lineage circulating without interruption for 12 months or more in a country or defined area.² The commission reviewed data from 2025 and the first half of 2026. This covered vaccination coverage, surveillance quality, molecular and virological laboratory evidence, and outbreak response.² According to PAHO, no single source of evidence determines a country’s final classification.²

This comes during the worst outbreak of measles in the US in 35 years and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed more than 5,400 measles cases in 2026. This is more than double the 2,289 cases reported in all of 2025.⁴ Pennsylvania has reported 1,542 confirmed cases and Wisconsin has reported 651.⁴ State health departments have reported 10 measles-associated deaths this year, including seven in Pennsylvania, two in Wisconsin, and New York’s first measles death in more than 30 years, while the CDC website lists six.⁴

The Path to Regain Elimination Status Again

Kindergarten measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage fell from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in the 2025-2026 school year.⁴ PAHO sets the regional coverage target for sustaining elimination at 95% or higher.² Two doses of MMR vaccine provide approximately 97% protection against measles.⁴

The national death toll has also become contested. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr asked CDC Director Erica Schwartz not to count state-reported deaths in the official tally, citing a lack of evidence they were measles-associated.⁴ Pennsylvania classifies a death as measles-associated when a person with confirmed measles dies within 30 days of symptom onset, unless an unrelated event caused the death.⁴

The CDC is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition for measles deaths.⁴ To restore elimination status, the US must interrupt transmission and remain free of endemic spread for at least 12 months.¹ Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom have also lost measles elimination status recently, and the US remains a PAHO member despite its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.¹,⁴

The RVC’s recommendations go to the PAHO director, and a final meeting report will be published as the official record of country classifications.² The outcome of Mexico’s review, which the RVC also invited after its 2025 outbreak, has not been publicly reported.³

References

1.Steenhuysen J. US loses measles-free status after continued spread of the disease, WSJ reports. Reuters. Published November 13, 2026. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/us-loses-measles-free-status-005436000.html

2.Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission to hold sixth annual meeting in November. Pan American Health Organization. Published October 14, 2026. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://www.paho.org/en/news/14-10-2026-measles-and-rubella-elimination-regional-monitoring-and-re-verification-commission

3.Measles elimination status in the United States and Mexico. Pan American Health Organization. Published January 16, 2026. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://www.paho.org/en/news/16-1-2026-measles-elimination-status-united-states-and-mexico

4. US loses measles-free status as two more deaths reported. Al Jazeera. Published November 14, 2026. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/measles-associated-deaths-reach-10-in-us-after-two-more-deaths-reported