A nationwide resurgence of measles, driven by multiple outbreaks and falling vaccination coverage, is threatening the United States’ measles-elimination status.

Health officials reported large outbreaks in several states, including a South Carolina outbreak that exceeded 875 reported cases and surpassed the case count from Texas’s 2025 outbreak, clusters along the Utah–Arizona border, and additional confirmed cases in multiple other states. Public-health authorities said most patients in the current outbreaks have been children and that many were unvaccinated. Three unvaccinated people, including two young children, died during an earlier West Texas outbreak; officials warned more cases and deaths are likely if under-vaccinated areas persist.

Federal and state officials urged vaccination to limit spread. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said measles "is a disease people should be vaccinated against" and confirmed that Medicare and Medicaid will continue to cover the measles vaccine as part of their core immunization schedules, adding that access to the vaccine will not be blocked by those programs. Some federal statements were described as limited or mixed, and Oz’s statement was called the first major federal endorsement amid rising case counts.

Public-health experts attributed the resurgence to declining measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage and rising exemption levels, noting that measles transmission requires roughly 92 to 95 percent population immunity to prevent sustained spread. Contributing factors cited include disruptions to routine pediatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic, persistent access gaps for lower-income families, political polarization correlated with vaccine hesitancy, and organized misinformation efforts. Coverage remains relatively high in many Northeastern and Midwestern communities but low in parts of West Texas, southern New Mexico, the rural Southeast, and regions of Mississippi. Local clinics reported mixed responses: some increased uptake among families inclined to vaccinate, while others saw low turnout.

The federal government has revised some childhood vaccine recommendations and launched a broader review of the U.S. vaccine schedule at the President’s request. Department of Health and Human Services actions included removing certain prior recommendations related to thimerosal-containing vaccines; officials noted that most measles-mumps-rubella vaccines do not contain thimerosal. Critics said changes to advisory bodies and guidance, and public statements by senior officials, could influence public trust and vaccine behavior. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s past skepticism about vaccine safety and prior statements suggesting links between vaccines and autism were cited by public-health experts as a source of concern; reporting also noted that a 2019 trip by Kennedy to Samoa coincided, according to critics, with increased credibility for anti-vaccine activists before a severe measles outbreak there, a claim at odds with Kennedy’s prior testimony that the trip had nothing to do with vaccines. These accounts were presented as raising fears that federal guidance might depart from scientific consensus; officials and the department disputed claims that actions have hindered outbreak response.

Public-health authorities emphasized the need to rebuild public trust in health systems after the coronavirus pandemic and said consistent provider recommendations and federal support are key to restoring high, widespread vaccine coverage. They warned that unless vaccination coverage is restored to the levels needed to prevent sustained transmission, clustered under-vaccination will continue to produce repeated and large outbreaks.

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