U.S. Measles Cases Pass 4,800 in Record Year as Outbreaks Continue

The United States has recorded more measles cases in 2026 than in any year in more than three decades, according to CDC figures reported by CBS News, NBC News and ABC News. NBC reported that the CDC counted 4,852 cases nationwide as of last Friday, up from 4,080 as of Oct. 8, when CBS reported the year had already set a record. The previous high was 2,289 confirmed cases in 2025.

Pennsylvania has the largest outbreak, with 1,433 cases, 269 hospitalizations and six deaths as of Monday, NBC reported, citing state data. New York has 178 cases this year. On Monday, state health officials reported that a child had died in northern New York’s Lewis County in connection with the ongoing measles outbreak. NBC and ABC called it the first such fatality in the state in over three decades; officials gave no other details about the child. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state emergency in October.

As of Oct. 8, 95 percent of patients nationwide were unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status, CBS reported. Kindergarten MMR coverage was 92.4 percent in 2025-26, down from 95.2 percent in 2019-20, CBS also reported. Two doses give about 97 percent protection, NBC reported. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told CBS’s “Face the Nation” it is “very important that parents vaccinate their kids,” CBS reported.