The United States has recorded 4,852 measles cases so far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday, a rise of 264 cases on its previous update.
The latest figures, covering cases up to 29 October, show the outbreak continuing to grow late in the year, with more than one in ten reported cases leading to hospital treatment.
Hospitalisations linked to measles this year stood at 511, representing 11% of all reported cases, according to the CDC data reported by Reuters.
Children and teenagers account for the largest share of cases. People aged 5 to 19 accounted for 2,010 cases, followed by 1,996 cases among adults aged 20 and older and 812 cases in children under 5.
The overwhelming majority of infections were among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, accounting for 96% of cases in 2026, up from 93% in 2025, the CDC’s data showed.
Pennsylvania remains the centre of the outbreak. The state’s health department has reported 1,398 measles cases so far this year — more than a quarter of the national total — underscoring how concentrated the spread has been in one state.
The death toll is less clear-cut. Pennsylvania’s health department has reported five measles-related deaths so far in 2026, while the CDC has confirmed only three measles-associated deaths nationally and has not specified where they occurred. That gap between the state and federal counts is a reminder that the figures are still being reconciled.
The steady rise in cases, driven overwhelmingly by infections among unvaccinated people, keeps pressure on public health authorities to reach communities where vaccination coverage has fallen behind, particularly among school-age children, who make up the single largest age group in this year’s count.
Note on sourcing: the death figures differ between sources — Pennsylvania reports five measles-related deaths, while the CDC has confirmed three nationally — so the national death total should be treated as provisional until the CDC reconciles the state reports.
Sources: Reuters, “US measles cases rise to 4,852, CDC says”, https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-measles-cases-rise-4852-cdc-says-2026-10-30/
