With 160 new confirmed measles cases in the past week, the nation’s cases soared past 1,000 and reached 1,136, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update, putting the United States on pace to exceed last year’s 2,281 total by springtime.
The country is seeing measles levels not experienced since the early 1990s, when the CDC conducted coordinated campaigns to increase coverage of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in children, which then led to the country gaining measles-elimination status in 2001. The United States is set to lose that distinction this year.
Measles cases dropped from 9,643 in 1991 to 2,200 in 1992 after increased vaccine uptake and stayed low for more than three decades, only to rebound dramatically last year as federal officials downplayed both the impact of the disease and the importance of receiving the MMR vaccine.
The CDC said 1,130 of the new 2026 cases are from 27 states and New York City, while six are travel-related. The agency reported three new outbreaks that began this year, for a total of 10 outbreaks involving 152 total patients. That compares with 50 outbreaks in 2025.
Of the 1,136 cases, 24% are in children younger than 5 years, and 81% involve children and young adults up to 19 years old. Only 4% of case-patients have been fully vaccinated with two MMR doses, while 92% are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccine status.
Five percent of patients have required hospital care, compared with 11% last year. No US measles-related deaths have been reported this year, after three in 2025.
Cases growing fast in Florida
Cases appear to be growing fastest in Florida, where the state health department does not provide measles updates. Media reports cite 114 cases, the CDC includes 107 on its measles map (43 more than last week), while CNN’s tracker also notes 114 cases, which is 22 more than last week. Collier County, home to a measles outbreak at Ave Maria University that began last month, now has 83 cases, an increase of 17 in one week.
Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent measles and stop this outbreak.
South Carolina, the hardest-hit state, appears to be experiencing a reprieve. Its cases grew by only six in the past three days, reaching 986 for an outbreak that began last October, the South Carolina Department of Public Health said in an update today. Sixty-one people remain in quarantine and two in isolation, the SCDPH said. It cited recent exposures at four schools and a Costco in Spartanburg.
The state’s outbreak is centered in the Upstate region, especially Spartanburg County. Of the 985 cases, 928 (94%) have been in that county. The SCDPH said, “Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent measles and stop this outbreak.”
13 cases at ICE facility in Texas
Also this week, city health officials confirmed 17 measles infections in El Paso, Texas, including 13 at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. The city’s news release said the ICE facility is outside its jurisdiction, but the city’s public health lab has provided testing support when requested and has supplied vaccine for health care providers in the detention center.
Meanwhile, public health officials are investigating six new measles cases in Columbus, Ohio, five of which involve unvaccinated children. All infected children are one through five years old. Also, Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA, said this week that people may have been exposed to measles at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus on February 18. The city saw seven measles cases in all of 2025.
Measles cases for 2025 and 2026 in Utah reached 319 this week, 19 more than last week. The state has recorded 62 new infections in the past three weeks.
Arizona has six new cases—55 for the year so far.
