The United States has recorded 4,852 measles cases in 2026 as of 29 October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Friday 30 October, up 264 cases from its previous update.
The update, reported by Reuters, underlines how far the year’s outbreak has run: the 2026 total is already more than double the 2,289 cases recorded across all of 2025. Hospitalizations linked to measles this year stood at 511, representing 11% of all reported cases, according to the CDC.
Who is being affected
People aged 5 to 19 accounted for 2,010 cases this year, followed by 1,996 cases among adults aged 20 and older and 812 cases in children under 5, Reuters reported from the CDC data.
The vast majority of infections were among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, accounting for 96% of cases in 2026, up from 93% in 2025, the CDC’s data showed.
That breakdown is the central public-health point of the update. Measles spreads readily among people without immunity, and the CDC figures show the current surge is concentrated overwhelmingly in that group rather than among vaccinated people.
Pennsylvania remains the main driver
A significant driver of the national surge remains Pennsylvania, which is battling its worst measles outbreak in years. As of 30 October, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,426 measles cases and 268 hospitalizations, rising from 1,398 cases and 265 hospitalizations reported just two days earlier.
The Pennsylvania outbreak has previously been described as the largest US measles outbreak since the virus was declared eliminated in the country in 2000, in an Al Jazeera analysis of the outbreak.
There is a difference in the death figures that readers should not confuse. The Pennsylvania state health department has reported five measles-related deaths so far in 2026. The CDC, however, has confirmed only three measles-associated deaths nationwide and has not specified where they occurred. The state and federal counts are therefore not the same number, and this article does not present the state figure as a CDC-confirmed national total.
What is not yet known
The CDC update is a case count as of 29 October, not a forecast. It does not say when the surge will peak, and weekly updates can be revised as jurisdictions report confirmed cases. The CDC notes that its published data include only confirmed cases notified to it, so the true number of infections in the country could be higher.
What the figures do establish is the scale and the pattern: a national total approaching 5,000, more than double last year’s total with two months of the year remaining, hospitalizations above 500, and almost all cases among people unvaccinated or of unknown status.
Why it matters
For readers in the United States, the update is a reminder that measles — a disease the country declared eliminated in 2000 — is again spreading at a scale not seen in decades, driven in large part by one state outbreak and concentrated among people without documented vaccination. For readers elsewhere, it is a measure of how quickly a highly contagious disease can return when immunity gaps widen.
Sources
- Reuters: US measles cases rise to 4,852, CDC says
- Arab News (Reuters-based): US measles surge continues, with 96% of cases among unvaccinated or unknown-status patients
- Contagion Live: Measles Update: October 30, 2026
- CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks data page
FAQ
How many US measles cases have there been in 2026? 4,852 as of 29 October, according to the CDC update reported on 30 October, up 264 from the previous update.
What share were unvaccinated? 96% of cases were among people unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status, up from 93% in 2025.
How many people have been hospitalized? 511, or 11% of reported cases.
How many deaths has the CDC confirmed? Three measles-associated deaths nationwide. Pennsylvania’s state health department has separately reported five measles-related deaths in the state; that is a state figure, not the CDC-confirmed national total.
Which state is driving the surge? Pennsylvania, with 1,426 cases and 268 hospitalizations as of 30 October, according to its state health department.
