US Poised to Lose Measles-Elimination Status After 26 Years as Health Experts Meet and Cases Top 5,000

International health experts began meeting this week to decide whether the United States has lost its measles-elimination status. If they rule that it has, a public health milestone the country has held since 2000 would come to an end, as measles cases climb to their highest level in more than three decades.

A commission convened by the Pan American Health Organization, the regional office of the World Health Organization for the Americas, is holding a closed-door meeting from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13. It is reviewing whether measles has spread continuously inside the U.S. for at least 12 months. That is the threshold for a country to lose elimination status.

The Washington Post reported that the committee is expected to announce its conclusions next Tuesday. The New York Times reported that available data suggests the U.S. has already crossed that line.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 5,182 measles cases so far in 2026, the highest annual tally since 1991. The country recorded 2,289 cases in all of 2025. People who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown accounted for 96% of cases this year, according to the CDC. State and local health departments have reported multiple deaths, including six in Pennsylvania alone.

CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz told Reuters on Tuesday that the agency would not fundamentally change how it handles outbreaks even if the U.S. loses its status.

"Let's say we did lose our measles elimination status. We're going to be doing the same exact thing that we've been doing today, which is working with the states," Schwartz said.

She said the CDC would keep working with states to raise awareness, emphasizing that the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is the best way to prevent the disease. Schwartz said she expected a PAHO decision by early next week. She pointed to closely knit communities with low vaccination rates as the main source of infections.

Pennsylvania has the country's largest outbreak, followed by South Carolina and Utah, according to CDC data. Pennsylvania has reported more than 1,500 cases this year.

Measles elimination does not mean zero cases. It means the virus is not circulating continuously within a country, and that any cases brought in by travelers are contained before they set off a chain of transmission lasting a year. Losing the status would mean measles is once again considered endemic in the U.S.

The designation is largely symbolic, but experts say it signals a serious public health setback. "Measles is back," Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine, told ABC News.

Canada lost its elimination status in November 2025 after a prolonged outbreak. The United Kingdom and Spain have also lost theirs in recent years as case counts rose.

Concerns about the U.S. status grew last year. Federal health officials linked the large West Texas outbreak that began in January 2025 to later outbreaks in Utah and Arizona, suggesting a single chain of transmission. PAHO had earlier scheduled a review for April but did not announce a loss at that time.

Health experts have linked the resurgence to falling vaccination rates. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, has for years cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of the MMR vaccine. Medical experts say his rhetoric has contributed to vaccine hesitancy. HHS has said Kennedy encourages vaccination as the best way to prevent measles.

Asked about Kennedy's influence, Schwartz told Reuters: "What has been very clear to me is that the secretary has recognized that I am the director of the CDC."

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known. It can infect about nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to it and can cause pneumonia, brain swelling and death. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing infection.