CDC Keeps Measles Response Unchanged as US Nears Loss of 26-Year Elimination Status
Updated
Updated · CNN · Nov 10
CDC Keeps Measles Response Unchanged as US Nears Loss of 26-Year Elimination Status
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 10
Summary
CDC Director Erica Schwartz said the agency will keep its current outbreak playbook even if global health experts strip the US of measles elimination status by early next week.
Nearly 5,200 confirmed cases have been reported in 2026, already more than double 2025's 2,289, with 11 deaths recorded by state health departments since early last year.
Schwartz said the CDC will keep working with states and press MMR vaccination, focusing on close-knit communities with low immunization rates, including some religious groups such as the Amish in Pennsylvania.
The likely loss of a status the US has held since 2000 comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has questioned MMR safety and pushed policies critics say have deepened falling childhood vaccination rates.