WASHINGTON/ACCRA, Nov. 14 – The United States has lost its measles elimination status after 26 years, after the virus spread continuously in the country for more than a year, according to people familiar with the decision by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Researchers with knowledge of the deliberations told KFF Health News that PAHO, the World Health Organization’s regional office for the Americas, concluded this week that measles had re-established regular transmission in the US, CBS News reported on Saturday. PAHO is expected to make a formal announcement at a news conference on Tuesday.
A country keeps elimination status only if it has no locally transmitted measles outbreaks lasting 12 months or longer. The US had held the status since 2000.
Cases more than doubled
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recorded 5,412 measles cases so far in 2026, more than double last year’s total of 2,242, with more than 590 hospitalisations and at least six measles-related deaths, according to CBS News. Cases have been confirmed in 45 states and Washington, D.C.
About a third of this year’s cases are linked to outbreaks that began in 2025 and are still spreading. CDC data show that 96 per cent of people infected this year were unvaccinated or unsure of their vaccination status.
“It means that we’re at risk of being exposed to measles and getting measles if we’re not vaccinated,” CBS News medical correspondent Dr Céline Gounder said. “And we may now become an exporter of measles to other countries.”
Why it matters for Ghana
The loss is a warning for countries such as Ghana, where measles-rubella vaccination is part of routine childhood immunisation. PAHO says keeping measles away requires vaccination coverage of 95 per cent or higher, alongside strong surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases, and travel means outbreaks in one country can quickly reach others. Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are about 97 per cent effective at preventing the disease, epidemiologist Dr Omer Awan told CBS News.
The US is not the first country in the region to lose its status. PAHO said in November 2025 that endemic measles transmission had been re-established in Canada, while Brazil, which lost its status in 2019, was re-verified as measles-free in November 2024.
Source: CBS News; KFF Health News; DW; PAHO.
Featured image: Measles virus particle under an electron microscope. Image: NIAID / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
