On Dec. 29, 2025, measles cases nationwide have reached 2,012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week, as outbreaks in Arizona and South Carolina continue to grow and three other states alert the public about airport exposures.

The US total reflects 54 new cases, as the country teeters on the brink of losing its measles elimination status—which it earned in 2000—next month. This year’s total is the nation’s highest since 1992, when officials reported 2,200 cases. Coordinated vaccination efforts led to a precipitous drop in cases in the ensuing decades, but vaccine skepticism in recent years has spawned the disease’s resurgence.

“The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is very safe and effective,” the CDC said. “When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated (coverage >95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity). However, vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners has decreased from 95.2% during the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7% in the 2023–2024 school year, leaving approximately 280,000 kindergartners at risk.”

Among the confirmed patients this year, 26% have been younger than 5 years, 42% have been from 5 to 19 years, and 32% are older. Fully 93% have been unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Eleven percent of patients have required hospitalization, 20% of them preschoolers. CDC officials have confirmed 50 outbreaks, compared with 16 last year (and 285 cases). Three deaths have been confirmed to have been from measles in 2025.

Both Arizona and South Carolina updated their measles numbers last week. Arizona’s total grew by five, to 195 infections. All the new cases are in Mohave County, which now has recorded 191 cases. Mohave County and the neighboring southwest region of Utah now have 292 cases, the second-largest US outbreak this year, after one in West Texas this past spring and summer. In August state officials declared the West Texas outbreak over after 762 cases.

South Carolina has three new measles cases, bringing its 2025 total to 159, all of them since July 9. Of the total, 156 infections have been part of an Upstate outbreak centered around Spartanburg County that has involved many cases related to school exposures. All of the new cases are part of the Upstate outbreak. In a December 23 news briefing, State Epidemiologist Linda Bell, MD, said about 95% of measles patients in the state have been unvaccinated. She also said some exposures have been in healthcare settings.

Finally, health officials in New Jersey (Newark Liberty International Airport), Massachusetts (Logan), and Colorado (Denver International) are alerting the public about potential measles exposures at airports that are linked to infected travelers.