US nears 1,000 measles cases with infections confirmed in 26 states: CDC
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) — The U.S. is close to reaching at least 1,000 measles cases for the third time in eight years.
At least 72 new measles cases have been confirmed in the last week, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far this year, there have been total of 982 cases in 26 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, 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 94% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, the CDC said.
Meanwhile, 3% 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 962 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.
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, the CDC said.
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.
Last month marked one year since a measles outbreak began in West Texas, with infections soon spreading to neighboring counties and other states.
Public health experts previously told ABC News that if cases in other states are found to be linked to the cases in Texas, it would mean the virus has been spreading for a year, which could lead to a loss of elimination status.
A child receives a standard immunization on September 15, 2025, in Coral Gables, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Children who miss early vaccinations are far more likely to miss the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine by age 2, a new study found.
The findings come as the U.S. recently surpassed 2,000 measles cases for the first time in more than 30 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC data shows that MMR vaccination declined over the last several years, but the authors say that factors linked to delayed or missed vaccination since the COVID-19 pandemic have not been well studied.
For the new study, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, the team looked data from Truevata, an electronic health records database that includes several U.S. health care systems.
Participants included more than 321,000 children who received routine care within the first two months, first year and second year of life between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 30, 2025.
The CDC currently recommends that 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, the CDC says.
Most children during the study period received the MMR vaccine on time, with 78.4% doing so.
About 13.9% of children had delayed vaccination, 1% received the MMR vaccine early and 6.7% did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, according to the study.
The strongest predictors for no MMR vaccination was delay in receiving the recommended 2-month and 4-month vaccines, the study noted.
These early vaccines included diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP); Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV); and the inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV).
Nina Masters, lead author of the study and senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told ABC News that it’s not surprising children who miss early vaccines also miss later vaccines, but it highlights that some parents become vaccine hesitant when their children are young.
“This also means the opportunity for intervention to engage parents and provide more education about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines has to happen very early,” she said. “This may be challenging as parents may have yet had the time to forge a strong bond with their child’s pediatrician, but the study highlights the importance of pediatric providers having vaccination discussions and building trust as early as possible with parents.”
Results from the study showed that those who received their 2-month vaccines on time were seven times more likely to get the MMR vaccine.
The team found that the percentage of children who received the MMR vaccine on time changed over the study period, increasing from 75.6% in 2018 to 79.9% in 2021, and then falling to 76.9% in 2024.
This decrease between 2021 and 2024 was associated with an increase in the percentage of children who did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, increasing from 5.3% in 2020 to 7.7% in 2024, according to the study.
Children who were more likely to be unvaccinated for the MMR shot by age 2 were boys, and white and non-Hispanic or Latino, the study found.
Rural residence slightly increased the risk of no MMR vaccination, even among children receiving routine care, according to the study.
The study only included children with regular access to care, so real-world vaccination delays may be worse in the broader U.S. population, the team noted.
The authors added that these results point to increased vaccine hesitancy or unmeasured access challenges, highlighting the importance of timely intervention so children are less likely to delay or miss vaccination.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who was not involved in the study, said the findings have major public health implications because there are questions about whether the U.S. will retain its measles elimination status and increasing vaccination is “the way out of this problem.”
“If you want to live in a society where measles is a problem of the past, where we don’t have to think about it, where schools don’t have to come up with contingency plans, where we don’t have children unnecessarily dying from measles, then that’s a reason to get the vaccine,” he told ABC News.
Adalja added that vaccination doesn’t just protect the individual against infection, but it also has a community benefit.
“The higher the vaccination level is in a given community, the more resilient that community will be to those infectious diseases,” he said. “And if you’re someone that’s immunocompromised, you may want to live in to live in an area that has high vaccination rates because you are at higher risk, and if you’re in a high vaccination area, there’s going to be a lowering of that risk because of the community level immunity that exists in that area.”
Crystal Richards, MD, MS is a pediatric resident doctor at New-York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — High blood pressure and body mass index, or BMI, may be directly linked to the increased risk of developing vascular dementia, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
This is the strongest evidence to date showing a direct relationship between BMI and the increased risk of developing vascular dementia, a risk heavily influenced by elevated blood pressure, according to the study.
Researchers say these findings highlight how important reducing these risk factors are to help prevent this form of dementia and protect brain health.
The study’s findings show that being overweight and having high blood pressure “are direct causes of increased vascular dementia risk,” said Dr. Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, study co-author, chief physician at Copenhagen University Hospital — Rigshospitalet and clinical professor at University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
“That makes them highly actionable targets for dementia prevention at the population level,” Frikke-Schmidt told ABC News.
Vascular dementia is a type of dementia caused by damage to blood vessels that leads to reduced blood and oxygen to the brain, according to the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. The initial damage to blood vessels leading to this condition is often due to other underlying health problems such as high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, or diabetes.
Symptoms vary depending on the affected brain area but often include confusion, memory problems and difficulty with daily activities. There is no cure, making prevention key, experts say.
In the study, researchers analyzed data from large European populations across Copenhagen and the United Kingdom. Using analytical methods that mimic a randomized controlled trial, the researchers found that as BMI increased by approximately 4.5 points, the risk of vascular dementia rose across all BMIs, directly linking BMI to an increased risk of developing vascular dementia.
Additional analysis showed that elevated blood pressure, in association with BMI, directly contributed to increased risk of vascular dementia, adding to a growing body of evidence strongly linking cardiovascular health to brain function.
“What is good for the heart is good for the brain,” Frikke-Schmidt said.
BMI is a measure of a person’s body weight relative to their height. While doctors say the number should be taken in context with an individual’s overall health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes an ideal BMI as 18.5 to 24 for adults. Overweight and obesity are categorized as a BMI 25-29 and BMI 30 or greater, respectively.
Dr. Leah Croll, assistant professor of neurology at the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, told ABC News many dementia cases may be preventable, and this new research adds to evidence showing how important targeting risk factors like elevated BMI and cardiovascular disease are to preserving brain health.
“Dementia prevention is the wave of the future,” Croll said. Adding that it’s important to reinforce or develop habits to maintain a healthy weight and manage blood pressure through diet, exercise, and routine medical care.
While some people may be more motivated to lose weight, Croll said that blood pressure is a silent symptom that can be easier to ignore or may often go unnoticed.
“A paper like this really allows me to have conversations with my patients in the clinic where I can motivate them to stay on top of their blood pressure,” Croll said. “If you can stay on top of your blood pressure, that seems to significantly impact your brain health later on in life.”
Dr. Jennifer Miao, a board-certified cardiologist and ABC News Medical Unit fellow, told ABC News it’s important for people to monitor their blood pressure and should know how to measure it and know what the numbers mean.
“This can be done at a local pharmacy, urgent care or walk-in clinic, community health centers or by purchasing a blood pressure cuff to use at home,” Miao said.
Blood pressure contains two numbers — a systolic number on the top and a diastolic number on the bottom. Normal blood pressure is less than 120 on the top and less than 80 on the bottom, according to the American Heart Association.
“If left untreated, high blood pressure can have significant and harmful effects on overall health,” Miao said.
Camille Charles, DO, is a pediatric resident and member of the ABC News Medical Unit. Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(WASHINGTON) — Just as SNAP benefits were reinstated for millions of Americans following the reopening of the federal government, many are now set to permanently lose them.
Nearly 42 million Americans, including low-income families and vulnerable households, rely on SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help pay for groceries or other household essentials.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been directing states to implement new guidance as part of President Donald Trump’s megabill signed into law in July, which will include new work requirements, decreased eligibility for refugees and states shouldering some of the cost of the program.
Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published in August suggest that, as a result of the changes, more than 3 million Americans could lose assistance within the next few years.
“I think millions of people are going to lose food. … There’s no question this is going to create more harm and suffering and hunger,” Joel Berg, CEO of the nonprofit hunger relief organization Hunger Free America, told ABC News.
New work requirements
Under the megabill, the upper age limit for those who need to meet work requirements was raised from age 54 to 64 for the first time for able-bodied adults without dependents
Additionally, exemptions were changed for parents or other family members with responsibility for a dependent under 18 years old to under 14 years old.
According to CBO estimates, about 1.1 million people will lose SNAP benefits between 2025 and 2034, including 800,000 able-bodied adults through age 64 who don’t live with dependents and 300,000 parents or caregivers up to age 64 with children aged 14 and older.
Exemptions were also removed for homeless individuals, veterans and young adults who were in foster care when they turned age 18. Meanwhile, exemptions were added for American Indians.
CBO estimates the removal of these exemptions will lead to a loss of benefits for 300,000 people among those groups.
Berg said these requirements will be harmful because people may have to leave work to visit a government office providing proof of work and potentially losing wages.
“It’s really work reporting requirements, and we know none of these requirements actually increase work,” Berg said. “It’s adding them for veterans, as if they haven’t given enough to the country. It’s adding work requirements for parents of teenagers. It’s adding work reporting requirements for homeless people. How homeless people are going to be able to get and keep jobs is really beyond me.”
Berg added that it’s important to dispel the myth that all Americans who are on SNAP don’t have jobs or participate in work programs.
Data from the 2023 American Community Survey shows the majority of American families receiving SNAP benefits had at least one family member working in the past 12 months.
However, work requirements can reduce program participation. A 2021 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research found SNAP work requirements could lead to up to 53% of eligible adults exiting the program within 18 months.
Asylum seeker restrictions
Under the megabill, refugees, asylum seekers and those granted legal protection for humanitarian reasons are no longer eligible for SNAP benefits, removing decades of federal precedent.
This includes trafficking victims who were previously certified by the Department of Health and Human Services and Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant visa holders who worked with U.S. forces or agencies.
Under CBO estimates, about 90,000 people in these categories will become ineligible for SNAP benefits.
The only non-citizens who can still receive benefits include lawful permanent residents, although they must wait five years after receiving their green card, with certain exceptions.
Additionally, Cuban or Haitian entrants under humanitarian parole, as well as people in the U.S. under the Compact of Free Association — a series of international agreements between the U.S. and three Pacific Island nations — are also eligible.
“This policy is both mean-spirited and counterproductive,” Naomi Steinberg, HIAS Vice President of U.S. Policy and Advocacy, said in a statement. “Resettled refugees and asylees have been granted legal protection to permanently live and work in the United States. Denying families who are just getting their feet on the ground in their new American communities is unspeakably misguided, especially when denying basic nutritional assistance undermines their ability to achieve self-sufficiency and stability as quickly as possible.”
States sharing costs
States will have to share in the cost of SNAP benefits under the megabill, a change from the federal government shouldering the cost of the program.
Under the megabill, states with SNAP payment error rates above 6% have to pay a share of 5% — starting in 2028 — up to a maximum of 15 % of SNAP benefit costs.
CBO estimates some states will keep their current benefits and eligibility, while others will modify and some will leave the program altogether. This will reduce or eliminate SNAP benefits for about 300,000 people between 2028 and 2034.
A Commonwealth Fund analysis found that about $128 billion in federal costs will shift to the states, and many will not have the funds to meet the required matches. This could force states to opt out of SNAP for their residents.
“They’re increasing administrative costs on states, which many states are going to use to reduce access,” Berg said. “That’s going to cause states to either raise taxes, cut something else, or cut food.”
