If the outbreaks cannot be extinguished soon, the United States will lose its “elimination status,” as determined by the World Health Organization.
The measles strain that triggered a huge outbreak in the Southwest continues to spread, threatening to end America’s status as a nation that by and large has eliminated the illness, a federal health official said on Monday.
The news came in a conference call, a recording of which was obtained by The New York Times, among officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments.
The chain of transmission began in January, in a conservative Mennonite group on the western edge of Texas, and spread to Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Countries lose their so-called elimination status, as determined by the World Health Organization, after 12 months of sustained transmission. The United States, which has held elimination status for 25 years, will reach that critical deadline at the end of January 2026.
“I wouldn’t call the code yet, but I think the patient’s not looking real good,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Canada lost its elimination status last week, ending a 27-year run, after failing to control an outbreak that began at a Mennonite gathering in October 2024.