The U.S. Has Lost Its Measles-Elimination Status, Data SuggestsA New York Times analysis of measles genetic data finds the virus has circulated continuously in the United States for over a year, with transmission chains traced to a Texas outbreak, as a Pan American Health Organization panel weighs revoking the country's elimination status, achieved in 2000. Nearly 5,200 cases and eight deaths were reported in 2026, all unvaccinated, amid vaccine skepticism that experts link to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.