US reports record measles cases in decades

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States has reported over 4,000 confirmed measles cases this year, topping the highest annual total since 1991, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A sign warning patients sits outside a mobile clinic offering free measles vaccinations on February 6, 2026 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (File photo: AFP)

As of Thursday, a total of 4,080 measles cases had been confirmed in the United States in 2026, with 4,062 reported from 47 U.S. jurisdictions and 18 from international visitors. The total has already surpassed the 2,289 cases reported last year.

As many as 414 patients or about 10 percent of the total have been hospitalized, while 1,716 infected people aged 5 to 19 accounted for 42 percent or the largest share of all cases.

The CDC data showed that 95 percent of patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

Pennsylvania has recently seen a sharp rise in measles cases. The state's health department reported Friday that 1,136 cases had been confirmed so far, including 219 patients hospitalized and five dead, the largest state-level measles outbreak in more than three decades, said Pennsylvanian health officials.

The CDC recommends two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as the best protection against measles. The agency said that when more than 95 percent of people in a community are vaccinated, community immunity, also known as herd immunity, helps protect more people from the disease.