Follow-Up: PAHO Has Decided to Revoke U.S. Measles-Elimination Status, WSJ Reports; Formal Announcement Expected Nov. 17
WASHINGTON — The Pan American Health Organization's review committee has decided to revoke the United States' measles-elimination status, The Wall Street Journal reported on November 13, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters and CNN subsequently reported the decision as well. The decision has not been formally announced: PAHO did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had not commented as of November 13, and a formal announcement is expected on November 17.
The committee met in Washington from November 10 to 13 to review whether the United States still qualifies for elimination status. The central question was whether the same strain of measles has circulated uninterrupted within the country for 12 months or longer — in other words, whether local transmission has been re-established. The United States achieved measles-elimination status in 2000 and has held it for 26 years; losing it would mean measles is once again considered continuously transmitted within the country.
On the numbers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the 2026 totals at 5,412 confirmed measles cases and six confirmed deaths, already above the 2,289 cases reported in all of 2025, in the country's worst measles resurgence in more than three decades. The death toll here follows the CDC's confirmed count; individual state health departments have separately reported deaths that have yet to be reconciled with the CDC figure, and the two sets of numbers should not be conflated.
While the committee was meeting, no decision had been announced. Word of this week's determination has surfaced first through media reports citing people familiar with the matter; the decision text and formal responses from the parties involved await PAHO's expected November 17 announcement.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal)
Related:
Follow-up: U.S. Measles Cases Rise to 5,412, Up 230 in a Week, 96% Outbreak-Associated
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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