Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges – November, 16, 2025 – Measles
“Canada has lost its measles elimination status, the country’s Public Health Agency announced Monday. It’s the first country in the Americas to do so since the pandemic, and it could serve as a warning sign for others.
There are multiple criteria for losing an official measles elimination status, including declines in vaccination rates. The most significant factor is the ongoing spread of the same strain of the virus for a full year.
Canada’s outbreak started in October 2024 in New Brunswick, a province on the country’s eastern seaboard. As of Monday, Canada’s health officials had tallied 5,138 measles cases since the outbreak began. Two babies, infected in utero, were born pre-term and died.”
“The country eliminated measles in 1998, two years before the U.S.In the U.S., an outbreak that began in January continues to spread across the country.
The outbreak started in West Texas and stretched into New Mexico. At least 862 people — mostly in Texas — were infected. Three people died, including two little girls who lived in the epicenter of the outbreak, Gaines County, Texas.”
Though cases have subsided in West Texas, the virus has continued to spread. Forty-one states have reported cases. As of last week, 1,681 measles cases had been confirmed in the U.S. in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most in more than 30 years.
In Utah and Arizona, an outbreak concentrated in a close-knit community that straddles the border between the states is nearing 200 cases.” (1)
“The factors that led to Canada losing its measles elimination status are the exact same that are leading to America,” Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist based out of the Toronto General Hospital, told The Hill.
Chief among these factors is lowered vaccination rates. Health authorities maintain that a 95 percent vaccination rate is key to preventing the spread of measles. The rate fell among kindergarteners in the U.S. to 92.5 percent in the 2024-25 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the World Health Organization, 79 percent of Canadians had received a full schedule of the measles vaccine in 2024.” (2)
“The number of measles cases nationwide has risen by 42 the in past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today in its latest update. There are now 1,723 confirmed measles cases this year, reported by 43 jurisdictions.
Eighty-seven percent of measles cases are outbreak-associated, and there have been 45 US outbreaks in 2025. Among measles patients, 92% have been unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccine status. Only 4% have received both doses of measles-containing vaccine.
Last year the United States had 285 measles cases. US measles activity is the highest it has been since measles was declared eliminated in the country in 2000.” (3)
1.Canada loses its measles elimination status. Will the U.S. be next?, By Erika Edwards, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/canada-loses-measles-elimination-status-will-us-rcna242630
2.Canada loses its measles elimination status, and the US is close behind, by Joseph Choi, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5606830-vaccination-rates-decline-americas/
3.With 42 news measles cases, US total tops 1,700, by Stephanie Soucheray, https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/42-news-measles-cases-us-total-tops-1700
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai