The CDC says cases have reached nearly 1,300, the most since 1992.
In the first seven months of 2025, confirmed measles cases have reached 1,288— marking the most infections since 1992.
While weekly reported cases have slowed over the past few months, the CDC’s figure surpasses the high of 1,274 cases in 2019 and marks a grim milestone for the U.S. as immunization coverage wanes across the country and the federal government’s vaccine policy shifts under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“CDC continues to provide technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as requested. The risk of measles infection is low for the overall U.S. population,” said HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon in a statement. “Measles risk is higher in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates in areas with active measles outbreaks or with close social and/or geographic linkages to areas with active measles outbreaks. CDC continues to recommend MMR vaccines as the best way to protect against measles,” he said, noting that the “decision to vaccinate is a personal one.”
Kennedy has pointed to the much higher measles rates and death toll in Europe in arguing that the U.S. response to the outbreak “is a model for the rest of the world.” He’s asked the CDC to develop new guidance for treating the disease.
“People should be getting healthier. We’ve got more solutions. Medicine is advancing, and yet you’re seeing people turning away from it,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an expert on infectious disease and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “To me, this is the mentality of the Dark Ages.”