Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges – January 2, 2026 – Measles
“A systematic review of more than 200 studies published in BMC Infectious Diseases on human viruses over more than a century suggests that viral emergence peaked from 1950 to 1979 and again starting in 2000, with most initially detected in the United States, China, and Australia.”
“Over the past century, the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases ranging from HIV/AIDS and SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] to Zika virus, COVID-19, and Mpox, have repeatedly challenged health systems, exposed gaps in surveillance infrastructure, and disrupted economies and societies,” the study authors wrote.” (4)
“These events highlight the reality that pathogen emergence is not a rare anomaly but an ongoing process influenced by an increasingly interconnected and ecologically fragile world,” they added.
“The United States has recorded 2,012 measles cases as of Dec. 23 this year, the highest total in more than 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The last time the U.S. hit more than 2,000 cases was in 1992, or 33 years ago, CDC data shows.
This year’s numbers were driven by 50 outbreaks, defined by the CDC as three or more related cases, reported across the country. These outbreaks accounted for 87% of confirmed cases, or 1,760 of 2,012, according to the CDC.
Measles, one of the most contagious infectious diseases, was eliminated in the U.S. by 2000 but has resurfaced with periodic outbreaks, mostly among people who are not vaccinated.
In 2025, the vast majority of cases, 93%, were among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, CDC data shows.” (1)
“Some public health experts have attributed the resurgence in measles to lower vaccination rates. A Stanford University study published in April found lower levels of vaccination have caused communities to become more vulnerable, suggesting measles, and possibly other diseases like rubella and polio, could make a comeback. A lead author of the study, Stanford assistant professor of epidemiology Mathew Kiang, said the United States is “already on the precipice of disaster” with measles, suggesting if vaccination rates remain the same, the disease will become endemic again within 20 years. “That means an estimated 851,300 cases over 25 years, leading to 170,200 hospitalizations and 2,550 deaths,” Kiang said. Adam Ratner, director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at New York University, told the University of Chicago News vaccine hesitancy is helping measles come back, suggesting after the Covid-19 pandemic, people were less inclined to get vaccinated. “What I think has happened is we’ve gone from a time where people realized that it was worth small amounts of risk for big amounts of gain, and the big amounts of gain were protection against these diseases,” Ratner said.”” (2)
The year measles came back, https://www.vox.com/health/473339/measles-outbreaks-2025-rfk-jr-south-carolina-arizona
“Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told PTI in an exclusive interview that the resurgence of measles and pertussis (whooping cough) reflects gaps in both state and federal vaccination policy.
The policy gaps are both at the state level, especially in 18 US states such as Texas and elsewhere, allowing nonmedical vaccine exemptions for reasons of personal belief. And now in 2025, with this new Administration at the federal level for the first time seeking to limit access to MMR vaccines or vaccines with aluminium adjuvants, all for ideological, non-scientific reasons, he said.
He also pointed to failures in vaccine advocacy. The advocacy gap comes from the US Secretary of HHS, who on an almost weekly basis makes disinformed public statements and promotes antivaccine disinformation, Hotez added.”
“Hotez warned that unless vaccination coverage rebounds and misinformation is countered, preventable diseases could return to levels not seen in decades.” (3)
1.US hits 2,000 measles cases for first time in more than 30 years, by Sara Moniuszko, https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/12/31/us-measles-30-year-record-2000-cases/87970198007/
2.2025 Saw Most Measles Cases Since 1992 — Amid Latest Measles Exposure At Newark Airport, By Conor Murray, https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/12/29/2025-saw-most-measles-cases-since-1992—amid-latest-measles-exposure-at-newark-airport/
3.US vaccine expert blames policy failures for measles outbreak in Texas, by Press Trust of India, https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/us-vaccine-expert-blames-policy-failures-for-measles-outbreak-in-texas-125122800003_1.html
4.Review of 200 novel human viruses over a century a reminder that pathogen emergence isn’t rare, by Mary Van Beusekom, https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/misc-emerging-topics/review-200-novel-human-viruses-over-century-reminder-pathogen-emergence-isn-t
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai