The United States has recorded more than 5,000 measles cases so far this year, the highest annual figure in 35 years, according to official data released on Friday.
A total of 5,182 confirmed cases of the highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease have been reported nationwide in 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's leading public health agency.
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The figure is more than double the 2,289 cases recorded throughout 2025 and represents the highest number reported by the CDC since 1991.
State health authorities have reported at least eight measles-related deaths, including among very young children.
Measles deaths raise alarm among doctors
Paediatric infectious disease specialist Adam Ratner told AFP that such fatalities were “tragic, and that is completely preventable”.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, largely as a result of widespread vaccination. However, the disease has made a significant comeback in recent years, fuelled by declining vaccination rates and growing public distrust of health authorities.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-standing vaccine sceptic, has faced criticism for contributing to that distrust.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not believe that measles is a big problem and does not want to believe that there are deaths from measles,” Ratner said.
“The burden of these diseases will fall on children, who are not the ones who are making these decisions,” he added.
Measles typically causes fever, respiratory symptoms and a characteristic skin rash. In more serious cases, it can lead to complications including pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, potentially resulting in lasting health problems or death.
Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, an estimated 400 to 500 people died from the disease every year in the United States, according to the CDC.
