WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2026 — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national measles dashboard now lists two deaths for 2026 and 3,659 confirmed cases reported through Sept. 24. Reuters reported Tuesday that a second death had been verified by the National Center for Health Statistics. The CDC does not identify the states or people involved in its national death count.
What the federal figures cover
Of the 3,659 confirmed cases on the CDC dashboard, 3,642 were reported by U.S. jurisdictions and 17 among international visitors. The agency says 3,478 cases, or 95%, were associated with an outbreak. It defines an outbreak for this count as three or more related cases. These are reported and confirmed cases, and the totals can change as public-health investigations continue.
The 2026 count through Sept. 24 already exceeds the CDC’s full-year 2025 total of 2,289 confirmed cases. The periods are different lengths, so this comparison describes the reported totals rather than a like-for-like annual rate. Jurisdictions also report on their own schedules, and their local figures can differ from the CDC’s national snapshot.
Why death counts may differ
The CDC marks the two-death national total as subject to change while reviews proceed. It says it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a standardized definition for deaths due to measles. Reuters reported that the federal count relies on mortality verification by the National Center for Health Statistics and can differ from state tallies. A difference between those reporting systems should not be read as a newly identified death or as proof that a state’s investigation is incorrect.
The CDC also reports that measles, mumps and rubella vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners was 92.4% in the 2025–26 school year, below the agency’s 95% community-protection benchmark. It says two MMR doses are 97% effective at preventing measles. Readers looking for vaccination guidance can consult the CDC or their own clinician. For a separate international public-health development, see AskNovus’s report on the WHO’s 2025 cholera data.
Sources
Featured image: illustrative microscope photograph by Logan Gutierrez / Unsplash. It does not show a measles sample or a CDC laboratory.
[…] The announcement concerns plan availability and premiums, not a broad assessment of health conditions. For separate public-health reporting, AskNovus recently summarized the CDC’s September measles update. […]