The United States has recorded 5,182 measles cases in 2026, the highest number in 35 years, with at least eight deaths reported by state officials.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nation's leading public health agency, reported the figure on Friday, covering 47 states and jurisdictions. It is more than double the 2,289 cases recorded in all of 2025. Children under five account for 18 percent of cases, while those aged five to 19 make up 41 percent. In total, children and teenagers represent about 59 percent of confirmed cases, and 4,993 were outbreak-associated.

State health officials have reported at least eight measles-related deaths this year, including infants and young children. An infant in Wisconsin died on Thursday, the state's first measles death since 1990, during an outbreak that has stricken over 430 people across 13 counties. A child in New York and an unvaccinated person in Pennsylvania's Jefferson County also died this week. Pennsylvania has reported 1,487 cases and six deaths this year.

The CDC reports four measles deaths, a figure lower than state tallies. The discrepancy has fueled a dispute between Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over how deaths are classified. Pennsylvania counts "measles-associated" deaths when a confirmed case dies within 30 days of symptoms. The CDC initially included two Pennsylvania deaths but removed them after Kennedy questioned whether measles caused them, and is now working with the U.S. Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 through vaccination, but it has returned as immunization rates fall. Vaccination coverage among kindergarteners dropped from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4 percent in 2025-2026. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, an estimated 400 to 500 people died from measles annually in the U.S.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Adam Ratner told AFP that the deaths are "tragic, and that is completely preventable." He accused Kennedy of fanning distrust in health authorities, saying, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not believe that measles is a big problem and does not want to believe that there are deaths from measles." Ratner added that "the burden of these diseases will fall on children, who are not the ones who are making these decisions."

Wisconsin Health Secretary Kirsten Johnson said, "Any death of a child is a tragedy, and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease." Officials note that reported cases likely undercount the true total, as large outbreaks have struck tight-knit religious communities less likely to seek conventional medical care.