U.S. Measles Cases Top 4,580, More Than Double All of 2025, as Pennsylvania Deaths Reach 5
The CDC says 96% of this year's cases were unvaccinated or of unknown status, and New York's governor has declared a disaster emergency.
The United States is in its worst measles resurgence in decades, with new federal data showing more than 4,580 cases so far this year, more than double the total for all of 2025.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the figure in its latest update, dated October 22. The agency said 96% of people who caught measles in 2026 were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.
Pennsylvania has become the center of the outbreak. The state Department of Health said Friday that at least 1,338 cases have been confirmed across 44 counties this year, including 21 new cases as of October 21. More than 250 people have been hospitalized and five have died. Three of the five deaths were in Lancaster County.
Lancaster and Mifflin counties, two of the hardest-hit areas, have large Amish communities with low vaccination rates, and those communities are bearing the brunt of the spread. On Thursday, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen held a roundtable with Mifflin County health care providers to find out what they need to fight the disease. "Our state metrics and data tell part of the story of the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, but listening to the people on the ground caring for people in affected communities like Mifflin County is essential to refining our public health response," Bogen said in a statement.
There are signs that residents are responding. The state health department said providers have seen more people asking for the vaccine, and that more than 39,000 measles vaccines were given statewide in the first three weeks of October. The state averages about 25,000 in a full month. Health officials say two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are nearly 97% effective against measles, and one dose is about 93% effective.
Other states are dealing with their own outbreaks. Earlier this month New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency as cases rose, and the state health department counted more than 160 confirmed cases as of October 20. Utah has recorded more than 700 cases this year, according to its health department, though it has not diagnosed a new one in three weeks. South Carolina has logged at least 997 cases in 2026 after an outbreak that its public health department says ended in April.
The numbers continue a climb that has been building all year. Planck Standard reported earlier this month that the national count had passed 4,000 for the first time. The latest CDC total adds roughly 580 cases to that figure in a matter of weeks, and Pennsylvania's tally alone is now more than a quarter of the national count.
