US measles cases pass 2,000 as outbreak nears worst in decades

The US recorded 2,030 measles cases on 4 June, ‘though experts believe the true number is about three times higher.’ Photograph: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images View image in fullscreen The US recorded 2,030 measles cases on 4 June, ‘though experts believe the true number is about three times higher.’ Photograph: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images US measles cases pass 2,000 as outbreak nears worst in decades Outbreak driven by falling vaccination and misinformation as federal public health cuts hamper state response The US has recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases so far this year – near the total of 2,228 recorded in all of 2025, and on track to become the worst year for measles in decades as states struggle with the loss of federal funding for public health . The virus continues to spread in unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities, including among babies too young to be vaccinated, and it reveals the depths of the twin crises of misinformation and public health in the US. The US recorded 2,030 cases on 4 June, though experts believe the true number is about three times higher. Cases in Utah appear to be winding down, while cases in Virginia and Pennsylvania appear to be picking up. “I think it’s going to be a busy summer,” said Andrew Pavia, a George and Esther presidential professor who spoke in his personal capacity as an infectious disease expert. Utah has shown a new side of the outbreak. “What makes Utah different than South Carolina and Texas is that it spread throughout the entire state and became much more widely distributed,” Pavia said. Even so, there were two factors that made a difference in whether cases were contained, Pavia noted: “It hit hardest in communities that had relatively low vaccination rates and relatively limited public health departments.” While the Utah cluster began in a community with low connections to public health, making it hard to track cases, it quickly spread elsewhere. “With immunization rates having fallen off for 15 to 20 years in some places, there are young adults who are susceptible, who grew up in otherwise typical middle-class settings,” Pavia said. Controlling measles also requires strong public health: vigorous contact tracing, isolation for the sick, and quarantine for the exposed – an increasingly politicized task following the Covid pandemic. Utah has a decentralized public health system, so most of the response came from local public health departments. “Some of these small health departments are very stressed for personnel, funds, and training, particularly after the massive cuts that the administration made to pass-through money that went to state and local health departments – I think it was $11 billion they took away,” Pavia said. The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, “has not uttered the word ‘measles’ since 2024”, and the health department had to clear all of its announcements through political leadership, making it less visible and