With 5,182 confirmed infections, America has logged more measles this year than in any year since 1991
At least eight people have died, almost all those infected were unvaccinated, and the country risks losing its measles elimination status.
The US health agency CDC has counted 5,182 confirmed measles infections since the start of the year, VRT NWS reports, citing Belga. According to the AFP news agency, as carried by The Daily Star, that is the highest annual total since 1991. The figure for all of 2025 was 2,289. State health authorities have reported at least eight deaths, including very young children. Almost all infections involve people who were not vaccinated.
The US declared measles eliminated in 2000 thanks to vaccination, but the disease has been coming back in recent years as confidence in vaccines falls. Experts say the country risks losing that status. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces criticism for repeatedly voicing doubts about vaccines. AFP writes that he has spread misinformation about the measles vaccine and played down the dangers of the disease. Paediatric infectious disease specialist Adam Ratner called the deaths entirely preventable.
Measles is highly contagious and can lead to pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and lasting damage. In Belgium the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella is part of the basic vaccination schedule, with a first dose at 12 months and a second between the ages of 10 and 13, but it is not compulsory, VRT NWS notes.