At least 588 US measles cases reported in January: CDC
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — At least 588 measles cases have been confirmed so far this year across the U.S., according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This means the U.S. has seen more cases in about one month than is typically recorded in an entire year.
Only nine other years, including last year, have had higher case counts since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.
The high case counts in 2026 are largely being driven by a measles outbreak in South Carolina.
At least 17 states have also reported measles cases this year including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Almost all cases are tied to ongoing outbreaks in pockets of undervaccinated or unvaccinated communities. Just three measles cases were reported among international travelers so far this year, according to CDC data.
Last year, the U.S. saw a record-breaking number of measles cases reported with 2,257 infections, the highest figure recorded since 1992. The U.S. could be on pace to surpass that record if cases continue to mount at this rate.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, federal data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national trends mirror those see in counties across the U.S. A recent map from ABC News — a collaboration with researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai that allows people to type in their ZIP code and see the measles risk in their area — found a wide range of risks in areas across the U.S.
Some counties and ZIP codes fell into the “lowest risk,” with 85% or more of children under 5 years old receiving one or more measles vaccine dose to “very high risk” with fewer than 60% of children under age 5 receiving one or more measles vaccine dose.
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — There have been at least 733 confirmed measles cases reported across the nation, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Friday.
It comes as South Carolina is dealing with the largest outbreak recorded since measles was declared eliminated within the U.S. in the year 2000.
A total of 20 states have reported cases so far including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Last year had a record breaking 2,276 cases nationwide, the highest number since 1992. There were also three measles deaths, the first in a decade.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
In this handout from Merck & Co, a box and vial of Gardasil, a new cervical cancer vaccine, is seen is this undated photo. Russell Kirk/Merck & Co. via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — A major update to federal women’s health preventive guidance will make it easier for women to get screened for cervical cancer, including a self-collection option that allows some women to test themselves at home instead of going to a doctor for a pelvic exam.
The new option will be covered by private insurance beginning in January 2027.
The updated Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) guidance now advises that people receive a high-risk HPV test – which checks for the virus types most likely to cause cervical cancer – every five years for average-risk women ages 30 to 65 as the preferred screening approach. This can be done with a clinician-collected sample or by the patient at home.
Women in that age group still have other choices: a combination of an HPV and Pap test every five years, or Pap testing alone every three years if HPV testing isn’t available.
“The addition of self-collection really empowers women to make this choice for themselves,” Ann Sheehy, MD, the HRSA’s chief medical officer, told ABC News. “We do retain the option for Pap smear … this is just an additional choice for women.”
For women ages 21 to 29, the recommendations stay the same: Pap tests every three years, which Sheehy said aligns with available evidence.
“By doing this, we’re going to get some of those people that have been falling through the cracks and not getting this testing done in advance,” Tom Engels, administrator of the HRSA, told ABC News. “And by doing that, we’re going to save lives.”
Engels emphasized that the update is meant to expand testing options, not replace the Pap test. Self-collection is intended to remove barriers for women who find in-office screening difficult to schedule, uncomfortable, or hard to access, he stressed.
American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines updated in December, by contrast, recommend that cervical cancer screening should begin at age 25 and centers on primary HPV testing, including self-collection tests.
“The combination of good evidence of the benefits of self-collection, which include increased access to cervical cancer screening, combined with FDA approval, led the ACS and HRSA to include self-collection in their guideline update,” Dr. Robert Smith, senior vice president, Early Cancer Detection Science at the American Cancer Society and author of the organization’s updated guidelines, told ABC News.
Cervical cancer screening is often cited as a major public health success. Over the last 50 years, cervical cancer incidence and deaths have fallen by more than 50% in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society, largely because screening can catch precancerous changes early, before patients notice any symptoms.
When cervical cancer is found early, five-year survival is higher than 90%, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data suggests. But the HSRA guidance notes that more than half of diagnoses happen beyond the earliest stage, after the disease is spread to other areas of the body. In those later stages, five-year survival is only about 20%, according to the CDC.
Wide use of the HPV vaccine is expected to push cervical cancer rates even lower over time, but most of the historical decline happened before widespread vaccination efforts.
Sheehy said she has seen the consequences when screening doesn’t happen, and why early detection matters.
“I’ve seen women who didn’t have access to screening, and their cancer presented at a very late stage,” she said. “Most women who have early-stage cervical cancer or precancer lesions are asymptomatic, and the only way we’re going to detect that is with screening.”
The updated guidance aims to address stubborn gaps despite the decades of progress, she added, pointing out that about half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have either never been screened or their screening isn’t up to date, and about one in four women in the U.S. are not up to date with screening, according to the CDC.
Only FDA-approved tests are recommended for self-collection. The FDA first expanded approvals in May 2024 to allow patients to self-collect samples in a clinical setting. In May 2025, the FDA approved the first at-home self-collection cervical cancer screening kit.
The at-home option is available by prescription. Exactly how patients access a covered self-collecting test may vary by insurer and plan.
“There’s some FDA tests that are approved for self-collection in an office-based setting and there is one that is available for self-collection at home,” Sheehy noted.
Sheehy and Smith both added that a positive HPV result is not a cancer diagnosis, but it can mean additional testing is necessary.
The updated guidance also aims to reduce costs that can pile up after an abnormal screening result by clarifying what insurers must cover without cost-sharing, including follow-up testing and diagnostic evaluation such as Pap testing, biopsy, and lab work, depending on individual needs.
A separate HRSA guideline that took effect Jan. 1 also requires insurance coverage for patient navigation services that help women schedule screenings, address care challenges, and follow up after abnormal results.
“We know the health care system is incredibly complicated for patients to navigate,” Sheehy said.
Both Engles and Sheehy emphasized how optimistic they are about the potential benefits of expanding access to cervical screening.
“This could be really, really, game-changing for women,” Sheehy said.
Radhika Malhotra, MD, is an internal medicine-preventive medicine resident at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
ABC News’ Liz Neporent contributed to this report.
A sign outside a mobile clinic offering measles and flu vaccinations on February 6, 2026 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Measles cases have topped 1,000 in the United States for the third time in 26 years.
At least 154 new measles cases have been confirmed in the last week for a total of 1,136, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far this year, cases have been confirmed in 27 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Just six measles cases were reported among international travelers so far this year, according to CDC data.
About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, CDC data shows.
Meanwhile, 4% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.
The current measles situation in the U.S. is partly being driven by a large outbreak in South Carolina that began last year, with 979 cases recorded as of Friday, according to state health officials.
Last year, the U.S. recorded 2,281 measles cases, which is the highest number of national cases in 33 years, according to the CDC. Before that, the last time measles cases rose above 1,000 was 2019 — CDC data showed 1,274 that year. Recorded cases dropped to a low of 13 in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC currently recommends people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.
However, federal data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
