Nearly a third of measles cases happened in the past three months
Nearly a third of all U.S. measles cases in the past four years happened during a three-month stretch in 2024
The rise in measles, a highly infectious virus, is troubling, experts warned. Officials attribute it to the drop in the U.S. vaccination rate for the deadly and preventable virus amid a global surge in cases.
For now, the risk of widespread transmission remains low due to existing immunity and robust public health responses to contain outbreaks, according to the report published Thursday.
The CDC documented nearly 340 measles cases since January 2020. Almost 100 of the infections happened in 2024,
Most of the outbreaks that we’ve seen during this period have been small and short due to high population immunity and rapid response by state and local health departments to control these outbreaks,
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The latest report shows measles spread mostly by unvaccinated U.S. residents who traveled abroad and then brought measles to schools or hospitals they visited.
Public health officials in 2000 declared measles eliminated in the U.S. after decades of people getting vaccinated which are highly effective at preventing the virus.
While vaccines are still widely used, Mathis said, the report notes that more measures must be taken
New measles cases tend to primarily be caused by lack of vaccinations and an uptick in travel after the pandemic, experts said.