US measles outbreak 2026

The New York State Department of Health said it is working with county health departments and local partners to provide the MMR vaccine to any unvaccinated people who request it.

A child in New York state's Lewis County died from a measles-associated death.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was 'heartbroken' to learn of the child's death.

The 7-month-old boy died on Sunday at his home in the town of Denmark.

The CDC deployed epidemiologists to assist New York state health officials following a request for an Epi-Aid.

The New York Times reported that the child who died of measles in Lewis County was an unvaccinated baby boy.

Prior to the recent deaths, Pennsylvania had not seen a measles-related death in 35 years.

New York has reported 170 measles cases in over a dozen counties.

It is the seventh measles-linked death reported in the US this year.

Vaccination has long been spotty among Amish and conservative Mennonite communities.

Local clinics have delivered hundreds of MMR shots during the outbreak.

Lancaster County is home to Pennsylvania's largest Amish community.

Two new measles cases have been reported in Elkhart County in recent days, bringing the county's total to three.

LaGrange County's reported measles cases increased from 10 on Wednesday to 22.

The Indiana Department of Health says most of the measles cases are in people not believed to be vaccinated.

Nearly 15 percent of kindergartners in the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle school district in Todd County have nonmedical exemptions for the MMR vaccine, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

In August 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for revamping childhood vaccine recommendations, including breaking up the MMR vaccine into individual doses given at separate doctor visits.

The MMR vaccine has been used in the U.S. since 1971 and two doses are about 97 percent effective against measles.

Taylor's third child, born in 2025, received the second MMR shot only three months after the first, in June.

Germany moved its second MMR dose recommendation to four weeks after the first in 2020.

The MMRV shot combines the second MMR and chickenpox (varicella) vaccines into one.

U.S. reported pertussis cases reached roughly 43,300 in 2024 and nearly 28,000 in 2025.

Childhood vaccination exemptions in the U.S. reached a record high 4.2% for incoming kindergartners during the 2025-2026 school year.

Pennsylvania has reported at least five measles-related deaths, while the CDC lists three nationally in 2026.

Pennsylvania alone reported 1,338 measles cases as of Friday.

There are at least 43 measles outbreaks across the US.

The CDC reported 4,588 cases of measles across the country in 2026 as of Friday.

The CDC denied the request to validate the measles test, citing "other competing priorities".

ARUP Laboratories published their assay for measles in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology in December.

One measles patient can infect 12 to 18 unvaccinated people.

Dorit Reiss said naming a state would not give personal details and that the CDC gives case numbers by state.

Pennsylvania has reported a total of six deaths from measles.

The CDC has not given a clear reason for the switch to NCHS.

The CDC shifted to relying on mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics rather than state health departments' reports.

The Pennsylvania measles outbreak has spread to 42 counties.

The CDC did not specify in which state the death occurred on Tuesday.

The Georgia Department of Public Health has been tracking potential exposures related to a case of measles in Macon County earlier in October 2026.

The Longhorn Steakhouse in Perry is located a few miles from the Georgia National Fairgrounds, which opened the Georgia National Fair on Oct. 7.

Measles symptoms typically appear between one and two weeks after exposure, but can take up to three weeks.

Pennsylvania reported 1,222 measles cases across 42 counties as of Wednesday.

Seventeen percent of cases were among children under the age of five.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on October 5 due to rising measles cases.

Measles vaccination coverage among US kindergarteners fell from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4 percent in 2025-2026.

Pennsylvania reported 1,222 measles cases across 42 counties as of Wednesday.

There have been 451 measles-related hospitalisations nationwide in 2026.

The individual who tested positive for measles was not vaccinated against measles.

Faith Lustik is the Director of Preventive Service at Jefferson County Public Health.

The measles virus can remain in the air for up to two hours.

Laurel County is located in southeast Kentucky.

Kentucky health officials have warned that the current measles case count is the highest in decades.

No deaths from measles have been reported in Kentucky so far.

Pierre Kory is a critical care physician with no pediatric training who lost his board certifications for promoting Covid misinformation.

The county coroner said the third Pennsylvania measles death victim was not able to seek healthcare before her condition worsened.

Kory claimed the first child did not die of measles but of pneumonia and medical mismanagement.

Measles outbreaks have been recorded in Texas, Utah, Ohio and South Carolina.

Seven measles cases were recorded in New York City and 101 elsewhere in the state.

The last measles outbreak of more than 1,000 cases in the US prior to Pennsylvania's occurred over several years in New York City in the early 1990s.

At least six babies in Pennsylvania have been born infected with measles.

Two of the babies born with measles were admitted to intensive care.

Congenital measles is rarely, if ever, seen in the United States.

Assistant State Public Health Officer Dr. Rita Nguyen said the MMR vaccine is safe and provides long-lasting protection against measles.

The passenger traveled through at least six California counties: Alameda, Butte, Kern, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Joaquin.

Officials said people who were passengers on those trains or buses or who were at the stations on those days have been exposed to measles.

Pennsylvania is seeking emergency assistance from the CDC for its measles outbreak.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. headlined the Washington DC conference of the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense earlier in the week.

The traveler passed through at least six California counties: Alameda, Butte, Kern, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Joaquin.

People who were at Union Station between 8 a.m. and noon Saturday may be at risk of developing measles seven to 21 days after exposure.

The infected passenger arrived at Union Station aboard Amtrak's Southwest Chief Train 3 at 7:03 a.m. Saturday.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, California Department of Public Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with county health departments to inform passengers seated near the infected traveler on the train or bus of their risk of developing measles.

Measles symptoms begin with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body.

An unvaccinated out-of-state visitor with measles was tracked to the La Quinta Inn at 3155 Ingles Lane on Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Individuals potentially exposed in Steamboat Springs should watch for symptoms through October 7.

Pennsylvania began publishing school-level vaccination data for the first time this year.

Lora Werner is the director of the Delaware county health department.

Fifteen states sued the Trump administration earlier this year over its changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and the dismantling of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. headlined the Washington DC conference of the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense, which he led for nearly two decades.

Kennedy claimed that diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome, and anorexia can be side effects of routine vaccines.

One quarter of Americans now have doubts about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines.

Coroner Greg Furlong said he believed official measles case numbers in Pennsylvania are an undercount.

The day after the Reuters report was published, the CDC changed its data source on measles deaths.

HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. previously argued without evidence that the two earlier measles deaths may not be from measles and asked CDC director Erica Schwartz not to count them in the official CDC tally, according to reporting by Reuters.

Due to the Trump administration changing how it reports measles deaths, the CDC does not count any of the four U.S. measles deaths in its national tally.

Pennsylvania's secretary of health Dr. Debra Bogen said Pennsylvania faces the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades.

2026 is the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1992.

Health officials said the woman died of complications associated with measles on Saturday.

Lancaster County has accounted for 295 of the measles cases in Pennsylvania in 2026.

Robert F Kennedy Jr accused Pennsylvania’s Democrat-led government of “weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain”.