Public health officials say last year was a bad year for measles, and 2026 is promising to be even worse for the spread of the highly contagious disease. As of late January, the U.S. had recorded 588 measles cases in just that month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, surpassing 25% of the total number of cases for all of 2025, which reached 2,267.
Outbreaks are occurring in several states, including California, where a Disneyland visitor with measles is raising concerns about the potential spread of the disease. Most alarming to public health officials is an outbreak in South Carolina that has exceeded the one in Texas that began just over a year ago. There have been 876 cases in South Carolina reported since October, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health. The developments mean it’s possible that the United States could lose the “measles elimination” status, granted by the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, it has held for a quarter-century, Northeastern health experts said.
