The United States has confirmed 4,588 measles cases so far in 2026, the CDC reported Oct. 23, after adding 178 cases in a week. That 4.0% rise is about half the 8.1% jump reported a week earlier, when 330 cases were added, Contagion Live reported. The slowdown comes less than three weeks before an international commission meets to review whether measles has again become endemic in the country.
The Pan American Health Organization's Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission will meet Nov. 10 to 13 and examine data for 2025 and the first half of 2026, PAHO announced. If it finds that the same viral strain circulated without interruption for 12 months or longer, the U.S. would lose the elimination status it has held since 2000. Canada lost its status in November 2025, which also cost the Americas its regional measles-free designation.
