The Pan American Health Organization has revoked the United States’ measles-elimination status, ending a run that began in 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, Nov. 13, citing people familiar with the matter. Neither PAHO nor the CDC had announced the decision in the reporting we reviewed, so the outcome is reported rather than confirmed.[1]
Related: U.S. Measles Cases Hit 4,852 in 2026, More Than Double Last Year.
What the decision means
A country keeps elimination status as long as no single strain of measles spreads continuously inside it for 12 months or more. PAHO reviewed CDC evidence on that question, and a source familiar with the CDC’s findings told Reuters the agency found 12 months of continuous transmission. A source told CNN that an independent expert commission reporting to PAHO’s director concluded the U.S. no longer qualified.[1]
To win the status back, the U.S. must end transmission and stay free of outbreaks for at least 12 months.[1]
The numbers
The CDC has recorded 5,182 confirmed cases this year as of Thursday, across 45 states, New York City and Washington, D.C. That is more than double the 2,289 cases in 2025.[1] When we reported in October, the count stood at 4,852.
About 7,500 people have been infected and 13 have died since 2025. Nearly all of this year’s cases are in people who were unvaccinated or whose status is unknown, and about one in nine patients was hospitalized, CNN reported, citing the CDC.[1]
Reaction
Noel Brewer, a University of North Carolina professor who chairs an independent advisory panel on measles, presented the CDC’s report to PAHO on Tuesday, Reuters reported. “It is a fully preventable disease,” he said. Johns Hopkins epidemiologist William Moss told Reuters the loss damages America’s standing as a public health leader.[1]
CDC Director Erica Schwartz said before the decision that the agency would keep working with states to encourage vaccination.[1] The outbreaks have come amid rising vaccine hesitancy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned the safety of measles vaccines.[1]
More in health news and science news.
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