The United States has recorded more than 5,000 measles cases this year, the highest number in 35 years, according to an official count released on Friday.
So far in 2026, 5,182 confirmed cases of the highly contagious but preventable disease have been reported across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That compares with 2,289 cases in the whole of 2025 and is the highest level the CDC has recorded since 1991.
State health officials have reported at least eight measles-related deaths, including among very young children.
Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 thanks to vaccination, but it has made a strong comeback in recent years amid declining vaccination rates and growing public distrust of health authorities.
Measles causes fever, respiratory symptoms and a rash, and can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia and brain inflammation, which may cause severe long-term health problems or death. Before a vaccine was developed in the early 1960s, measles killed hundreds of children a year in the US, and it still claims tens of thousands of lives worldwide.