The United States is on the verge of losing a public health achievement it has held for a quarter of a century, as health experts prepare to decide whether the country can still call itself free of measles.
Global health experts convened by the Pan American Health Organization are expected to rule in the coming days on whether America has lost its measles elimination status, a designation it has held since 2000. Many disease specialists believe that outcome is now likely, with the country battling its highest number of infections in more than three decades.
Dr Erica Schwartz, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters on Tuesday that the agency would not fundamentally change its response even if the status is lost. She said the CDC would keep doing what it is doing now, working with state health departments to raise awareness and stress that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best protection against the disease.
The scale of the outbreak underlines why the decision matters. There have been nearly 5,200 confirmed measles cases in the United States so far in 2026, compared with 2,289 for the whole of 2025. State health departments have reported 11 deaths since early last year, with thousands of Americans catching measles since early 2025. A Wisconsin infant was reported this week as the country’s third measles-related death in a single week.
Outbreaks centred on close-knit communities
Dr Schwartz, who was confirmed as CDC director in August, said she expected the Pan American Health Organization to reach its decision by early next week. She pointed to closely knit communities as the main source of infection in the United States, noting that several outbreaks began among religious groups where vaccination rates are lower than in the general population, including the Amish community in Pennsylvania.
She said many of these families made their decisions about the MMR vaccine 20 or 30 years ago, and the consequences are only now visible. The priority, she said, is to reach those communities and make sure they understand that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles.
The outbreak has also become entangled in a wider debate about vaccines in America. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who oversees the CDC, has for years cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of the MMR vaccine, and has sought to reduce the number of childhood immunisations. Medical experts have said his words and actions have contributed to falling vaccination rates.
In August, shortly after Dr Schwartz was confirmed in her post, President Donald Trump and Mr Kennedy unveiled an executive order calling for the MMR vaccine to be broken up into three separate injections. Pharmaceutical companies said such a change could take years, while doctors warned it would sow confusion among families.
Dr Schwartz also pushed back against reports that Mr Kennedy and his senior deputies had put pressure on her or the agency. She said she speaks with the health secretary every day, and that he has recognised she is the director of the CDC and that decisions about the agency’s direction rest on her shoulders. She added that he understands she is there because the CDC needs a leader.
