Thank you, Bobby Jr., and all you anti-vaxxers
In January 2026, the United States is at risk of losing its
measles elimination status because of ongoing transmission chains from a West
Texas outbreak that began early last year and sickened roughly 800 people. The
country first gained elimination status in 2000.
Eighty-eight percent of cases in the United States this year
are outbreak-associated, and there have been 47 outbreaks recorded. Last year,
16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were
outbreak-associated.
Currently Utah, Arizona, and South Carolina are seeing large
outbreaks that since Thanksgiving have pushed state totals well past 100 cases.
Those outbreaks have been marked by exposures at schools and churches in
communities with low vaccination levels.
Utah-Arizona outbreak grows to 254 cases
In South Carolina,
281 students at eight schools in the Upstate region are in quarantine. That
state has 114 cases, 111 associated with the Upstate outbreak.
The most recent case in Utah was also in a school setting
outside of Salt Lake City, but the highest activity is still in a southwestern
region of the state that borders Arizona. The Utah-Arizona outbreak, which
began in Colorado City, Arizona, and neighboring Hildale, Utah, now has 254 cases,
and is the second largest US outbreak this year after West Texas.
Late yesterday,
Arizona officials confirmed 21 new measles cases in the past week, raising the
state total to 176. Of those cases, all but four are from Mohave County, home
to Colorado City.
The CDC said that, among all confirmed measles cases, 92% of
patients are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status. Three percent
have had one dose of measles-containing vaccine, and 4% have had two doses.
There have been three confirmed deaths from measles this year, and 11% of
patients have required hospitalization, but 21% of those younger than five
years have needed hospital care.
