Idiots of the week: Anti-Measles Vaxxers- WHY? US could lose its measles elimination status within months

Science and medicine has worked SO HARD to eliminate deadly diseases in the modern day, and the Idiots of the Week are the Anti-Vaxxers who are not vaccinating their children or getting the vaccine as adults. They don't understand that Measles can also have fatal complications, including pneumonia and brain swelling. Now, Measles is taking its toll. Here's the awful story.

(Photo: A toddler covered in measles. Credit: CDC) 

US could lose its measles elimination status within months, experts say

Live Science, By Stephanie Pappas, Nov. 19, 2025

With 45 outbreaks of measles over the past year, the United States is at risk of endemic spread within months, experts told Live Science.

The United States may lose its measles elimination status as soon as January, marking the sustained resurgence of a disease that had been eliminated from the country 25 years ago.

                Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine reduce the chance of catching measles by 97% 

On Nov. 10, Canada lost its measles elimination status, after the Pan American Health Organization concluded that the country's recent measles outbreaks were connected and represented ongoing transmission lasting more than 12 months. Measles is considered eliminated in a country or region only when there are no outbreaks lasting longer than a year. Thus, to maintain "elimination status," any introductions of the disease from travel must be quashed before 12 consecutive months of spread.

A large measles outbreak in West Texas began in January 2025 and has since ended — but while it was raging, it may have sparked cases in Arizona and Utah, where ongoing outbreaks are still occurring. If public health officials find enough evidence linking these outbreaks, the United States will likely see its measles elimination status vanish in January 2026.

'We have basically destroyed what capacity we had to respond to a pandemic,' says leading epidemiologist Michael Osterholm "We still don't know how the determination will come up in January," said Dr. Diego Hijano, an infectious-disease specialist at St. Jude Children Research Hospital. "But it's likely, as they look at the cases that started off in Texas and have continued to spread, that they will think there have been 12 months of cases coming from that area."

Measles elimination is a cherished goal for public health. 

The disease, marked by a high fever and dramatic red rash, is miserable at baseline, but it can also have fatal complications, including pneumonia and brain swelling. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who catch measles die in this acute phase of the infection.

For survivors, measles can have long-term health consequences, including immune "amnesia" that leaves them prone to other illnesses. And about 7 to 11 survivors out of every 100,000 people infected face a fatal long-term complication called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a degenerative nervous system disease that arises years after the measles infection.

Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine reduce the chance of catching measles by 97%, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Because measles is one of the world's most transmissible infectious diseases, however, eliminating it requires high levels of vaccination. In a population without immunity, one person with measles can infect between 12 and 18 others. To snuff out an outbreak, you must bring that number down to less than 1, meaning about 95% of the population needs to be protected via vaccination or immunity from a prior infection, Hijano told Live Science.