CDC Director Says Measles Response Won't Change Even if US Loses Elimination Status

On Tuesday, CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz told Reuters that her agency's approach to measles will not fundamentally change, even if the United States is formally judged to have lost its measles elimination status within days. Her answer came as experts convened by the Pan American Health Organization prepare to decide whether the country keeps a designation it has held since 2000.

Schwartz said she expects PAHO's decision by early next week. Many disease experts consider a loss of status likely, because the country is dealing with its highest number of infections in more than three decades. Thousands of Americans have contracted measles since early 2025, when the Trump administration took office.

The numbers behind that expectation are stark. There have been nearly 5,200 confirmed cases in 2026, compared with 2,289 for all of 2025. State health departments have reported 11 deaths since early last year. Schwartz, who was confirmed as CDC director in August, inherited an outbreak that has grown worse since then.

Asked what would happen if elimination status were lost, she said the agency would keep doing what it is doing now. That means working with the states and helping them raise awareness about measles, while stressing again that the MMR vaccine, which combines protection against measles, mumps and rubella, is the number one way to prevent the disease.

Schwartz identified close-knit communities as the main source of infection in the US. Several outbreaks have started among religious groups with vaccination rates below those of the general population, including the Amish in Pennsylvania. She said these communities typically do not vaccinate their children, and that families were making decisions about the MMR vaccine 20 to 30 years ago whose results are only now showing. In her view, the real question is why more effort is not going into reaching those communities so they understand that the vaccine is the best protection.

The politics around her office are part of the picture. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC and other health agencies, has for years cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine. As the nation's top health official, he has sought to reduce the number of childhood immunizations. Medical experts have said his rhetoric and actions have contributed to falling vaccination rates.

In August, shortly after Schwartz was confirmed, President Trump and Kennedy unveiled an executive order calling for the MMR vaccine to be split into three separate shots. Pharmaceutical companies said that could take years, and doctors said it would sow more confusion among families.

Schwartz also pushed back on reports suggesting Kennedy and his top deputies had pressured her or the agency. She said she speaks with Kennedy every day, and that he has recognized she is the CDC's director and that the decisions and direction of the agency rest on her. She said he understands she holds the position because the CDC needs a leader.

The PAHO ruling, due early next week, will be the first test of whether her promise of continuity holds as the country's elimination status is decided.