Feb 4 (Reuters) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday called for intensifying epidemiological surveillance and vaccination, as a widening outbreak led to a spike in measles cases across the Americas.
The agency’s alert comes after cases and outbreaks across several countries in the region, amid a sustained rise in measles infections in 2025 compared with the previous five years, a trend that appears to be continuing.
During the first three weeks of 2026, an additional 1,031 measles cases were confirmed in seven countries, with the highest cases reported in Mexico and the United States.
This represents a 43-fold increase from the 23 cases reported during the same period in 2025, the agency said.
In November, Canada lost its measles elimination status after nearly three decades due to its failure to curb a year-long outbreak, a loss that also resulted in the Americas region losing the status.
A widening outbreak in South Carolina has resulted in 876 measles in the state, which officials warned could last weeks or months amid lagging vaccine uptake.
PAHO urged member states to prioritize strengthening surveillance and vaccination activities and ensure a quick and timely response to suspected cases.
The agency also recommended strengthening disease surveillance and lab testing, closing immunity gaps through vaccinations, and responding quickly to suspected measles cases.
The agency said that among cases with vaccination information available, 78% were not vaccinated and 11% had unknown vaccination status, underscoring that gaps in routine immunization are fueling outbreaks.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan and Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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