US surpasses 1,000 measles cases for the 3rd time in 26 years: 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) — 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.
Close up of senior woman using cannabis at home (Getty/Emilija Manevska)
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order on Thursday reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
The order moves marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, putting state-licensed medical marijuana in the same category as some pain medications, ketamine and testosterone.
Schedule I drugs are defined as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” while Schedule III drugs are defined as “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
While this change aligns federal guidelines with many state laws, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. It does not remove cannabis from the federal controlled substance list, legalize recreational use nationwide or allow unregulated sales similar to tobacco and alcohol.
However, the move could allow for expanded research and ease many of the tax and regulatory rules placed on the cannabis industry.
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche wrote in a statement on X.
President Donald Trump announced late last year that his administration would seek to reclassify marijuana, but not legalize it for medical or recreational use under federal statutes. Over the weekend, the president appeared to express frustration that the administration was slow-walking the effort.
Blanche said the Justice Department and DEA will begin the process of potentially reclassifying all marijuana to Schedule III. The DEA is planning to hold a hearing in late June.
“The new hearing … will provide a timely and legally compliant pathway to evaluate broader changes to marijuana’s status under federal law,” according to a press release from the Justice Department.
The process of reclassifying marijuana began under the administration of former President Joe Biden.
In October 2022, Biden asked then-Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra and then-Attorney General Merrick Garland “to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.”
The HHS in August 2023 made a recommendation to the DEA to move medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
In May 2024, the Justice Department announced Garland had submitted a notice of proposed rule-making to move medical marijuana to Schedule III, with DEA announcing in August 2024 that a hearing would be held on the proposal.
That hearing was scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, 2025, but was postponed about a week before by a judge.
Marijuana is the most widely used federally illegal drug in the country. Nearly one in five Americans — 52.5 million people — reported using it at least once in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far, 24 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational marijuana for adults, allowing adults aged 21 and older to possess, use and, in most cases, cultivate small amounts of cannabis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Although cannabis may have potential medical uses, it has also been associated with mental health problems, impaired driving, and lung and heart conditions. About three in 10 cannabis users will develop cannabis use disorder, meaning they are unable to stop using cannabis even though it’s causing health and social problems, according to the CDC.
Cannabis use directly affects the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention and decision-making, the CDC says.
The CDC also cautions that it can cause harm to brain development in young people and use during pregnancy may be linked to lower birth weight and possible developmental effects.
Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus. (Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A rare rodent-borne disease may be behind an outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there has been one laboratory confirmed case and five suspected cases. Of those six people, three have died.
The deaths occurred between April 11 and May 2 and the variant of hantavirus identified in at least one patient who is currently in intensive care, according to the WHO.
The WHO said on Monday that investigations into the deaths and illnesses are ongoing, including further laboratory testing.
The outbreak was reported on the MV Hondius, run by Oceanwide Expeditions, which was traveling between Argentina and the Canary Islands via Cape Verde.
Currently, the ship is off the coast of Cape Verde with 149 people on board representing 23 different nationalities, Oceanwide Expeditions said in a press release on Monday.
Here’s what you need to know about the outbreak, what hantavirus is and how it spreads.
Timeline of the outbreak
South African health officials said in a statement on Monday that the first two deaths occurred in a married couple from the Netherlands. The 70-year-old male passenger became ill first with a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea. He passed away upon arriving in St. Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic Ocean, according to the statement.
The deceased passenger’s wife, 69, collapsed at Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport while trying to connect to fly home to the Netherlands, according the country’s department of health. She was taken to a medical facility in nearby Kempton Park, where she also passed away, the statement said.
Another patient, a British national, fell ill while the ship was traveling from St. Helena to Ascension, also a British territory, according to the statement.
“Despite medical treatment provided to him at Ascension, his condition did not improve and necessitated his medical evacuation to a South African private health facility in Sandton for further medical management,” the statement said.
The patient is currently in critical condition in isolation but receiving medical attention, according to health officials, who said his laboratory test results came back positive for hantavirus.
Oceanwide Expeditions said in Monday’s press release that the first death occurred on April 11 and that the company learned of the second death on April 27. The British national also fell in on April 27.
A third passenger of German nationality died on May 2 from causes not yet known, according to Oceanwide Expeditions.
Meanwhile, two crew members – one of British nationality and one of Dutch nationality – are on board the MV Hondius with acute respiratory symptoms. One has a mild illness and one has severe symptoms, with both requiring urgent medical care, Oceanwide Expeditions said, adding that no other people with symptoms have been identified.
The company said that hantavirus has not been confirmed in the two patients still on board the ship, nor has it been confirmed as the cause of the three passenger deaths.
“Strict precautionary measures are in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring. All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” the company said. “We understand the considerable interest and concern and will share new information as soon as it has been verified.”
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreysus said in a post on X on Sunday that the organization is working closely with both member states and ship operators in response to the suspected hantavirus cases.
“WHO is facilitating medical evacuation of two symptomatic passengers, conducting a full risk assessment, and supporting affected people onboard,” Ghebreysus wrote.
The viruses cause two syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). HPS is mostly found in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S., and HFRS is mostly found in Europe and Asia.
Surveillance for hantavirus in the U.S. began in 1993 during an outbreak in the Four Corners region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, the CDC said. Between 1993 and the end of 2023, 890 cases of hantavirus disease have been reported in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Hantavirus became more widely known after being identified as the cause of death of the wife of actor Gene Hackman after the couple was found dead at their New Mexico home in February 2025.
How does hantavirus spread?
Hantaviruses are usually spread through rodents, including rats and mice, mostly from exposure to urine, droppings or saliva. Although the viruses can spread through a rodent bite or scratch, such infection is rare, the CDC says.
Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.
What are the hantavirus symptoms?
HPS symptoms typically appear from one to eight weeks after contact with the virus, with early signs including fever, fatigue and muscle aches, according to the CDC. Half of HPS patients will experience headaches, chills, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
The CDC says that between four and 10 days after the initial phase of illness, the late symptoms will appear, including coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid.
About 38% of people who develop HPS respiratory symptoms may die from the disease, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of HFRS usually develop one to two weeks after exposure and typically include intense headaches, fever, chills, back pain, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, the CDC says.
Later symptoms may include low blood pressure, lack of blood flow, internal bleeding and acute kidney failure. Depending on the virus causing the infection, fatality among infected humans can range from less than 1% to as high as 15%, the CDC says.
What hantavirus treatments are available?
No specific treatment is available for hantavirus infection, with the CDC recommending patients receive supportive care such as rest, hydration and treatment of symptoms.
Because HPS can cause breathing difficulties, patients may need breathing support, such as intubation, the CDC says.
Because HFRS can disrupt kidney function, infected patients may need dialysis to remove toxins from the blood, according to the CDC.
Stock photo of people commuting on e-bikes and scooters. (Maskot/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — E-bikes and e-scooters led to a growing number of trauma injuries at one New York City hospital, according to a new study published Wednesday.
About 7% of all trauma visits between 2018 and 2023 at Bellevue Hospital Center were due to micromobility injuries. Micromobility is the use of small, lightweight and low-speed modes of transportation such as bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters.
The study showed a growing share of patients who sustained these injuries had accidents linked to e-bikes or e-scooters.
Hospital data showed that, by 2023, over half of all trauma cases related to bikes or scooters involved an e-bike or e-scooter, an increase from just 8% in 2018, according to the study, published in the journal Neurosurgery.
The most common type of mechanism involved a collision with a motor vehicle followed by falls from the bike or scooter.
Bellevue is a Level 1 Trauma center in a large metropolitan city, designed to treat the worst kinds of injuries. Over the study period, about 30% of patients suffered a traumatic brain injury, 26% had injury to the skull or face and 50% required surgery.
“Our study shows that micromobility injuries are producing serious brain and spinal trauma that demands neurosurgical care at a scale we haven’t seen before,” corresponding study author Dr. Hannah Weiss, a resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a press release. “In a busy urban setting, we are seeing more and more of these injuries firsthand.”
Most patients seen for these injuries, nearly 69%, needed to be admitted to the hospital and nearly a third needed intensive care.
The majority of patients stayed at least three days in the hospital. Pedestrians who were struck had higher rates of traumatic brain injuries and were more likely to be admitted for intensive care.
“The data point to actionable solutions — helmet use, safer bike lane design and enforcement — that could prevent many of these injuries and better protect both riders and pedestrians, who in our study often sustained even more severe brain injuries than the riders themselves,” Weiss said.
About 20% of patients were intoxicated with alcohol, only 31% were using a helmet and injuries were more likely to occur in the evening hours, according to the study.
“Our findings make clear that urban infrastructure must continue to improve to keep pace with the rapid rise of electric bikes and scooters,” Dr. Paul P. Huang, an associate professor in the department of neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and chief of neurosurgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, said in a press release.
“Future studies should track these injuries across multiple cities and measure whether protected bike lanes, helmet programs, and speed enforcement actually reduce the number of brain and spine surgeries we perform,” Huang added,
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.
