Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 910* cases of measles in the US as of February 12, 2026. This is up substantially from this time last week, when the federal agency reported there was 733* confirmed cases.1 Week-over week that is an additional 177 cases and a 24.15% increase.
In releasing its figures, CDC said there were 904 measles cases in 24 jurisdictions: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A total of 6 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the US. 1
The federal agency reports “there have been 5 new outbreaks** reported in 2026, and 90% of confirmed cases (822 of 910) are outbreak-associated (62 from outbreaks in 2026 and 760 from outbreaks that started in 2025).” 1
History of Measles Cases
In its reporting, CDC provided a graphic looking at measles going back to the early 1960’s before the development of the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the statistics showing a downward trend after the immunization was widely administered to children. (See Table below.)
Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, the US had approximately 500,000 measles cases, thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths annually.
The first MMR vaccine was licensed in 1963. By 1989, a second MMR dose was recommended, and by the year 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the US. By 2025, the country saw 2,144 measles cases, the most in the country since 1991.2
Many more families are reversing the trend of foregoing MMR vaccination, and it is important to consider the potential of severe disease. Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia treated hospitalized children during an extended measles outbreak in that city in 1991, and he talks about the seriousness of the cases.
“When children were hospitalized or died, it was because the virus infected their lungs causing severe and occasionally fatal pneumonia. It caused severe dehydration, because not only would measles cause a high fever, but it also would cause diarrhea. So those are 2 sources of water loss,” Offit said in a previous interview with Contagion. “You would treat with intravenous fluids for the pneumonia. For children who came in with pneumonia, it was dependent on the degree of pneumonia, and sometimes it would only require to have oxygen. Sometimes it would require something more like ventilation, and every year there were 500 deaths.”
He also mentioned a severe complication of the disease: measles encephalitis. This causes inflammation of the brain and there were approximately 1000 cases a year before there was a vaccine. And a quarter of those children would develop permanent blindness or deafness.
*It is important to note that the CDC says on its website that the federal agency is aware of probable measles cases being reported by jurisdictions. However, the data on this page only include confirmed cases that jurisdictions notified the CDC about. Therefore, there could be higher numbers in the US overall.
**CDC reports the cumulative number of measles outbreaks (defined as 3 or more related cases) that have occurred this year in the US; states have the most up-to-date information about cases and outbreaks in their jurisdictions.
Contagion will continue to report weekly updates around the measles outbreak and gather commentary from vaccine experts, clinicians, and other interested stakeholders.