US Measles Cases Reach 4,410, Nearly Double Last Year's Total, as Kennedy Blames COVID-Era Missed Vaccinations

Just a week after the CDC's count crossed 4,000, the national total has climbed to 4,410 confirmed measles cases as of Oct. 15, according to the agency's Oct. 16 update. The previous week's update put the total at 4,080, and the weekly gain before that was 194.

The 2026 total is now nearly double all of 2025, when the CDC confirmed 2,289 cases. Of this year's cases, 451 people, or 10%, have been hospitalized. The CDC counts 42 new outbreaks this year, and 4,228 of the 4,410 cases (96%) are outbreak-associated.

Who is getting sick

Children and teenagers ages 5 to 19 make up 42% of cases. Children under 5 account for 17%. Adults 20 and older make up close to 41%, a significant increase from 29% last year, according to the CDC figures as reported by USA Today.

About 280,000 kindergartners are at risk because of vaccination gaps, the CDC estimates. MMR coverage among kindergartners was 92.4% in the 2025-26 school year, down from 95.2% in 2019-20. Public health officials generally put the level needed to stop widespread outbreaks at 95%.

Pennsylvania still leads

Pennsylvania's health department reported 1,222 cases across 42 counties as of Wednesday, Oct. 14, according to Al Jazeera. That includes 86 infections added since Oct. 9. The state has 225 hospitalizations and five confirmed measles-associated deaths, and officials are investigating a sixth reported death.

The CDC is sending a "disease detective" from its Epidemic Intelligence Service to work with state officials. The deployment follows Pennsylvania's request for an Epi-Aid. Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, New Mexico and Wisconsin are also working with the CDC's Epi-Aid program, the agency said.

Pennsylvania health workers have given more than 5,900 MMR doses at 202 pop-up clinics since the outbreak began in late April. Elsewhere, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Oct. 5, effective through Nov. 4. The order widens the pool of professionals who can give vaccines and gives nurses more room to order measles tests.

Kennedy's response

The federal response has been entangled in a dispute over counting deaths. The CDC said Oct. 13 that it would send more help to Pennsylvania after a feud between Kennedy and the state's governor, Josh Shapiro, over how measles-associated deaths should be defined and counted. Kennedy accused Shapiro of "fabricating" the deaths, while Shapiro said Kennedy was "downplaying the severity of measles." Reuters reported in September that Pennsylvania's health department sought emergency CDC support, but only on the condition that the agency acknowledge the deaths the state had reported.

The CDC's national tally still lists two measles deaths, while Pennsylvania alone has identified five. The CDC has said for weeks that it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a standardized case definition for measles deaths. CIDRAP noted the agency has yet to report progress.

Asked Thursday, Oct. 15, about six probable measles deaths this year, Kennedy pointed overseas and at the pandemic. "We're having a global measles outbreak right now," he said. "The measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic. And this is something that Anthony Fauci, in fact, predicted."

Kennedy was citing Fauci's private diary entries, which Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made public earlier this year. A May 6, 2020 entry says more than 1 million children worldwide had missed measles shots because of the shutdown, and that this "needs to be addressed."

Kennedy also said his administration has "done better at controlling the outbreak than any other country in the world," and argued that Canada and Mexico are experiencing worse outbreaks than the U.S. He has called the MMR vaccine the most effective way to stop measles spread and said in August that parents should get their children vaccinated.

A staffer at the event, held with Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), tried to block the question. The reporter replied that Kennedy is a Cabinet secretary and "can answer that question."

What comes next

The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning no continuous spread for a year. That status is now in question. The World Health Organization is expected to review the U.S. status next month, USA Today reported. The Hill reported that the U.S. and Mexico are scheduled to meet with the Pan American Health Organization next month to go over their respective measles elimination statuses.

The CDC counts only confirmed cases. Probable cases that jurisdictions have flagged are not in the 4,410 figure. Experts cited by CIDRAP have suggested Pennsylvania's five deaths point to a larger outbreak than the confirmed count shows, since measles typically kills one to three people per 1,000 infected.