The U.S. has retained its measles elimination status for another year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 1,249 measles cases this year in 31 states and New York City, the most since 1992. The virus was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. Most of this year’s cases were associated with large and closely related outbreaks in New York. “We are very pleased that the measles outbreak has ended in New York and that measles is still considered eliminated in the United States,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “This result is a credit to the cooperative work by local and state health departments, community and religious leaders, other partners, and the CDC. But this past year’s outbreak was an alarming reminder about the dangers of vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.”

Related News Articles

Headline
A JAMA study published yesterday found that more adults age 45-49 have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a finding that coincides with recommendations by…
Headline
Kindergarten vaccination rates declined during the 2024-25 school year, according to data released July 31 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.…
Headline
The United States July 7 reached its highest annual measles case tally in 33 years, hitting at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of…
Headline
A study published June 25 by the Journal of the American Heart Association found that heart disease death rates fell 66% from 1970 to 2022. Deaths from heart…
Headline
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added new resources for health care providers to its Be Ready for Measles Toolkit. They include a decision…
Headline
There have been 1,168 confirmed cases of measles across 33 states as of June 6 this year, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and…