US Lost Measles Elimination Status as Global Health Authorities Confirm Regular Spread

Regular transmission returns

The Pan American Health Organization determined this week that measles has reestablished regular transmission in the United States, according to researchers familiar with its deliberations. PAHO works on health issues across the Americas and with the World Health Organization.

Measles elimination means outbreaks in a country end within a year. Researchers expected the decision after an outbreak in Utah passed the one-year mark in June. PAHO based its assessment on analyses by the CDC and an independent group of measles experts.

Outbreaks bring serious costs

Over the past two years, more than 8,000 people in the United States have been sickened in measles outbreaks, and more than 830 have been hospitalized. Johns Hopkins University researchers estimate the outbreaks have cost roughly $125 million in medical care, public health response and lost productivity.

Vaccination and policy debate

Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine prevent about 97% of infections. When nearly everyone in a community is fully vaccinated, the virus cannot spread, making outbreaks preventable. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said vaccination gaps that developed before the current administration contributed to the resurgence. Childhood vaccination rates have steadily declined since the COVID pandemic began. Many scientists also fault the Trump administration for vaccine misinformation and a weak response to outbreaks, citing cuts to state immunization programs and research funding on vaccine hesitancy.

The White House defended the administration’s actions. Spokesperson Allison Schuster said the president and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had encouraged vaccination, worked with states and helped deploy vaccine doses.

A changed national response

For more than three decades, the federal government treated measles as a preventable tragedy, with large outbreaks prompting national efforts to raise vaccination and stop transmission. Patsy Stinchfield, executive director of the Measles Collaborative, said that response has changed.

Stinchfield, a pediatric nurse during the 1989–1991 measles surge, recalled a hospital ward devoted to children with measles and efforts to protect patients with cancer or weakened immune systems. Two children at the hospital died. “That changed my career forever,” she said.

Former CDC director Susan Monarez told Congress she was fired after refusing to approve vaccine recommendation changes without reviewing the evidence. She warned that weakened vaccine protections could bring back preventable diseases.