Ten measles-associated deaths have been recorded across the United States this year after Pennsylvania and Wisconsin announced one additional fatality each on Friday according to Al Jazeera.
NBC News reported on Friday that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an infant’s death, alongside a confirmation from the Pennsylvania Department of Health that their newest victim was a Montour County resident without vaccination who tested positive for the illness.
More than 5,400 confirmed measles cases have been recorded nationwide so far this year, which is more than double the 2,289 infections reported in 2025, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker cited by Al Jazeera.
The sharp rise in infections threatens the elimination status that the United States has held since 2000. Elimination requires a country to squash continuous virus transmission for 12 months or more.
Dispute Over the National Toll
The official federal death toll stands lower than the number of fatalities reported by state health officials, creating a public disagreement over how measles deaths are classified. US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr asked CDC director Erica Schwartz not to include the state-level deaths in the official federal tally, claiming insufficient evidence linked them directly to measles.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and federal health officials have been at odds over this tracking method. Pennsylvania counts a measles-associated death when a person with confirmed measles dies within 30 days of developing symptoms, unless an unrelated event caused the death. Infectious disease experts warn that this dispute isolates the CDC from longstanding tracking methods used by the World Health Organization.
Declining Kindergarten Vaccination Rates Fuel Measles Outbreak
Public health experts attribute the ongoing outbreak to a sharp decline in vaccination coverage among kindergarteners. Statistics indicate that immunization rates among kindergarten students dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school term down to 92.4% during the 2025-2026 academic year.
State and local health departments have ramped up immunization efforts. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine offers approximately 97 percent protection after two doses. Because the virus is spreading widely enough to threaten babies who are too young for their first routine shot, health departments in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are recommending an early dose for infants aged 6 to 11 months living in areas with high case counts.
Elimination Status Deliberations
The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization, met to determine whether the United States can still be considered measles-free. The decision hinges on whether continuous virus transmission has persisted for a full academic or calendar year. Canada lost its elimination status last year after an agency review determined that the virus had spread there for at least 12 months.
“The decision is expected to be announced on Tuesday,” NBC News reported.
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