According to NBC News, on July 24, 2026 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. has logged 2,318 measles cases in the first seven months of this year, surpassing last year’s total of 2,289. It’s the largest number of measles cases the U.S. has seen in 35 years, and comes amid a decadeslong slide in childhood vaccination rates. The majority of infected people — 93%, according to the CDC — are unvaccinated.
“We have joined the rank of countries where vaccination is not reaching the levels needed to protect all of our children against some of the most contagious diseases. Measles is the canary in the coal mine. What it’s saying is that our communities are vulnerable, not just from measles, but from whooping cough, meningitis, chicken pox and other diseases that are readily controllable with vaccines. We’re on a crash course” said Dr. Richard Besser, a pediatrician and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. When vaccine levels dip, measles is usually the first vaccine-preventable disease to rise because it’s by far the most contagious.
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