CDC: 1,136 measles cases in the U.S. this year, but no deaths

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday 1,136 measles cases were confirmed in the U.S. this year as of Thursday.

By comparison, 2025 had 2,281 cases, the most since 1991 with its 9,643 cases.

Of the 2026 cases, 1,023 are related to outbreaks, which the CDC defines as involving three or more related cases; 152 cases were from outbreaks that began this year, while 871 were from outbreaks that started in 2025.

The vast majority of cases, 1,130, were domestic, occurring in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the CDC said.

The remaining six cases involve international visitors to the U.S., the CDC said.

South Carolina, where a measles outbreak has been ongoing since October, accounts for over half the cases confirmed this year at 653, according to the CDC. The South Carolina Department of Public Health said that as of Tuesday, the outbreak of 2025-26 has produced 979 cases.

The state with the next highest number of 2026 cases is Utah at 149, followed by Florida at 107, with no other state reaching triple digits.

None of the patients in the 2026 measles cases have died, although three died last year. The CDC said 58 patients, about 5% of the total, have been hospitalized — 20 patients under age 5, 17 between 5 and 19 years old, 20 ages 20 and up, and one whose age is unknown. 

The overwhelming majority of patients, 92%, are either unvaccinated against measles or have an unknown vaccination status, a similar figure to 2025.

Another 4% of patients have received one of two recommended doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and the remaining 4% have received both recommended doses. The CDC says that one dose of the vaccine has a 93% efficacy rate against getting measles, while getting two doses has a 97% efficacy rate.