CDC adds 178 US measles cases as death tallies diverge

Pennsylvania reported 1,338 cases; South Carolina and Utah each exceeded 500

The CDC reported 178 additional measles cases this week, raising the national count for 2026 to 4,588 as of Friday. The 2026 total was more than double the tally for 2025, and federal health authorities said the illnesses were sickening people across at least 43 outbreaks.

Pennsylvania, which has had the worst outbreak in the nation for months, reported 1,338 cases on Friday. South Carolina and Utah each reported more than 500 in large outbreaks, showing the current spread across several states.

The report said official tallies represented an undercount of the disease. It described measles as one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine and noted that its most common symptoms — rash, runny nose, fever and cough — may not immediately prompt an infected person to seek medical care.

The report said one in five unvaccinated people who become infected are hospitalized, while one to three people in 1,000 die from disease-related complications. It said the measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing the disease, with injection-site soreness and low-grade fever among the possible side effects. The report said the measles vaccine has been a focal point of anti-vaccine activism for decades.

Pennsylvania authorities reported five measles-associated deaths and were investigating a sixth. The CDC, however, listed three measles deaths nationally and had refused to say where the third occurred, leaving unclear whether it was counting a death in Pennsylvania or elsewhere. The report said the lack of disclosure came amid expert criticism of the CDC for lack of transparency.

Reuters, as cited by The Guardian, reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had asked senior CDC officials in September to remove a measles death from the official tally after questioning whether the disease contributed to it.

Health and Human Services announced changes this week to vaccine injury reporting systems. A proposal will allow doctors to bill for reporting suspected vaccine injuries, along with other changes. The report said the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, has been useful to researchers tracking rare vaccine safety issues, but anti-vaccine activists have also used it to make what the report described as unfounded safety claims. It described VAERS as a long-standing focus of the anti-vaccine movement.

The report noted that all vaccines carry risks, as vaccinologists acknowledge. Before Kennedy became HHS secretary, an expert panel considered each vaccine change individually to decide whether benefits outweighed risks. The report said Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of the board and replaced them with members with whom he ideologically aligned. A court blocked the replacements’ appointments in March.

During his time as secretary, Kennedy claimed children receive more than 90 vaccine doses, linked vaccines to autism despite extensive evidence to the contrary, and directed the CDC to remove statements that vaccines do not cause autism from its website. He also claimed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine contains “aborted fetal debris.” The report said Kennedy stated vitamin A and cod liver oil may help children with measles, which leading physicians described as misleading.

As of Friday, the reported national total was 4,588 cases in 2026 across at least 43 outbreaks. Pennsylvania authorities had reported five deaths and were investigating a sixth, while the CDC’s national tally listed three deaths without identifying the location of the third. The report also said official infection totals were likely understated.