The United States has now recorded more than 4,400 measles cases this year, all but ensuring the nation will double the 2,289 infections confirmed in 2025. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 4,410 cases as of Friday, just one week after crossing the 4,000 threshold.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions Thursday about the six probable measles deaths confirmed so far, before the latest figures were released. He deflected blame onto Dr. Anthony Fauci, citing diary entries that Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made public earlier this year.
“We’ve done better than — we’re having a global measles outbreak right now,” Kennedy said. “It’s all over the world. The measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic. And this is something that Anthony Fauci, in fact, predicted.”
Kennedy referenced a May 6, 2020 entry in which Fauci wrote about a conversation with then-CDC director Robert Redfield, noting that over one million children worldwide had missed measles vaccinations due to shutdowns. Fauci called that “terrible” and warned of “far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children.”
The CDC’s kindergarten vaccination rate for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) has fallen to 92.4 percent for the 2025-2026 school year, below the 95 percent threshold needed to prevent widespread outbreaks. That gap leaves hundreds of thousands of kindergarteners vulnerable.
Kennedy insisted his administration has handled the outbreak better than other nations, pointing to Canada and Mexico. He spoke at an event with Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), where a staffer initially tried to block a reporter’s question. The reporter pushed back, noting Kennedy is the “highest ranking health official in the country” and a Cabinet secretary.
The U.S. and Mexico are set to meet with the Pan American Health Organization next month to review their measles elimination status. Pennsylvania has confirmed its sixth measles death, leading the nation in cases.
Kennedy has endorsed the MMR vaccine as “the most effective” way to prevent measles and urged parents to vaccinate their children. Yet he continues to question vaccine safety, telling a September conference hosted by Children’s Health Defense that “vaccine-injured children” were “damaged” by conditions like asthma and autism, and listing sudden infant death syndrome and anorexia as common side effects.
The CDC vaccine advisory panel, restaffed by Kennedy with allies, voted to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines, but a federal judge disbanded the committee and blocked its votes. Earlier this month, HHS launched a clinic dedicated to vaccine-related injuries. Senator Cassidy has pressed HHS to intensify its vaccination push amid the outbreak.
With cases still climbing, public health experts warn that the current trajectory could make this the worst measles year in decades. The national case count has already topped 4,000, and the situation shows no signs of abating.
