The United States has recorded 3,887 confirmed measles cases in 2026 as of Oct. 1, according to the CDC’s weekly measles page, about 70% more than the 2,289 cases the agency counted in all of 2025. Pennsylvania reports five measles deaths. The CDC lists two nationally.
How Many Measles Cases Are There in the US?
The CDC updated its count on Oct. 2 with data through noon Oct. 1. The total covers 47 jurisdictions and 42 outbreaks that began this year. The agency said 3,700 of the 3,887 cases, or 95%, are tied to outbreaks. Last year 48 outbreaks produced 2,289 cases, and 90% of those were outbreak-linked.
The weekly increases are not shrinking. Onsite! Media reported 3,659 cases as of Sept. 24. The CDC’s Oct. 1 figure is 228 higher, a 6.2% rise in one week. The week before, the count rose by 188, or 5.4%.
The year-to-date total has also climbed quickly since summer. Axios reported 2,318 cases in late July. That means the country added 1,569 cases in roughly 10 weeks, an average of about 157 a week.
Outlets disagree on how unusual the year is. ABC’s Los Angeles station KABC called it the highest total since 1991. STAT described it as more than any year in the past 33 years. Contagion Live quoted a line calling it the worst year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. All three agree that 2026 has already passed 2025.
Pennsylvania Measles Deaths: State Count and CDC Count Differ
Pennsylvania is the center of the outbreak. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties and five measles-associated deaths as of Sept. 30, FOX 29 in Philadelphia reported. The fifth death was an unvaccinated Lancaster County resident. The department did not release the person’s age group and cited privacy.
The CDC page counts “2” deaths nationwide and carries a note that the number is subject to change. The state and federal totals differ by three, and the CDC page does not say why.
Pennsylvania’s caseload grew fast in the final week of September. Contagion Live put the state at 835 cases, and the state’s own number reached 943 by Sept. 30, an increase of 108 in about five days. FOX 29 reported 176 hospitalizations, which is nearly 20% of diagnosed cases. By the numbers in that report, 176 of 943 works out to 18.7%.
Only four of the infected Pennsylvanians were vaccinated, less than 1% of the state’s cases, the department said. In the same report the department said deaths occur in one to three of every 1,000 cases, and that two documented MMR doses provide 97% lifetime protection.
What the Case Numbers Say About Vaccine Coverage
Contagion Live reported the outbreak in Lancaster County is concentrated in largely unvaccinated Amish communities, where health officials have given nearly 5,200 MMR vaccinations at pop-up clinics since late April. The state department said more than 53,000 MMR doses were given in Pennsylvania in September, double the typical monthly rate of about 25,000.
Nationally, the CDC page says MMR coverage among kindergartners fell to 92.4% in the 20252026 school year. Public health agencies use 95% as the level needed to slow spread in a community. Contagion Live reported that only 10 states are above that line. Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, called the situation “a public health failure, and it’s avoidable”, according to the KABC report.
Will the US Lose Measles Elimination Status?
The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000. Elimination status depends on whether one chain of transmission runs continuously for 12 months. STAT reported that Utah’s outbreak began in June 2025 and has run longer than 12 months, a central test for losing the status.
The U.S. National Verification Committee for the Elimination of Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome met in mid-August. Its chair, Noel Brewer, said the panel would look at “detailed analyses of each outbreak” and how long transmission chains lasted, per STAT. This year the committee is using whole genome sequencing to follow chains across state lines. The Pan American Health Organization will announce its decision in November, STAT reported. Canada lost its status in November 2025.
Where the Outbreaks Are
Axios listed seven states that held 84% of the cases in July: South Carolina with 670, Utah with 522, Texas with 188, Virginia with 176, Florida with 141, Pennsylvania with 134 and Arizona with 108. South Carolina and Utah alone made up 51%.
Pennsylvania has moved to the top of the list since then. In July the state sat sixth on Axios’s list with 134 cases. Its count of 943 on Sept. 30 is about seven times that figure. The largest outbreaks have changed since the start of the year. KABC reported that South Carolina’s Spartanburg County outbreak, which ran from October 2025 to April 2026, became the largest in decades and neared 1,000 cases.
Virginia’s Buckingham County outbreak passed 150 cases. In Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, more than 100 people were infected by that point and none had received both MMR doses, according to the same report. KABC also reported that measles cases over the past 18 months have exceeded the previous 25 years combined, and that 2025’s total of nearly 2,300 was about 12 times the annual average since elimination.
More than 90% of cases involve unvaccinated people or people whose status is unknown, the station reported. The CDC says it updates its page weekly, with data current as of noon Thursday. The next update will carry data through Oct. 8.
