Meeting to Assess US Measles Elimination Status Delayed to November

A meeting of an international panel of experts that was set to review the United States’ measles elimination status in April has been postponed until November.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), part of the World Health Organization, pushed back its scheduled meeting that will determine whether measles is still eliminated in the United States and Mexico, it said on March 2.

Officials want to ensure U.S. authorities have enough time to conduct an analysis of the measles cases in the country, including complete virus genome sequencing, PAHO said.

U.S. health officials asked for the delay to allow more time for measles data analysis, said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

“The additional time will allow for a thorough and transparent assessment of the 2025 measles outbreaks, including comprehensive genomic sequencing and advanced analysis,” Nixon said.

The meeting will now take place in November, during the PAHO regular annual meeting.

PAHO declared in 2000 that the United States had eliminated measles or had no endemic transmission of the contagious virus. To reverse the finding, the experts would have to find a chain of transmission from the same virus lineage that goes uninterrupted for at least 12 months.

A measles outbreak in Texas ran from January to August in 2025. Other outbreaks have developed since mid-2025, including outbreaks in Utah and South Carolina.

“Most of our state’s measles cases lack a direct epidemiological link to other major outbreaks, including the one in Texas,” a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services told The Epoch Times in an email.

“While two early Utah cases were genetically similar to the Texas strain, they did not result in further transmission. More recent sporadic cases appear genetically closer to those identified in Colorado and North Dakota.”

Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist, told reporters during a briefing in February that the strains in the state “have not shown any difference from the predominant strain in the United States.” She also said that officials have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help analyzing measles, including potentially looking at chains of transmission.

The PAHO’s Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission for Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome will, during the upcoming meeting, review data on measles transmission in the United States and Mexico, including hearing presentations from U.S. and Mexican officials. They will make a recommendation to the director of PAHO, who will then decide whether measles is still eliminated in those countries.

PAHO removed Canada’s measles elimination status in 2025.

In a Feb. 3 brief, PAHO said there was a sharp increase in measles cases in the Americas in 2025, to 14,981 cases, including 5,436 cases in Canada and 6,428 cases in Mexico.

“Despite intensified surveillance and vaccination efforts, the increase in cases throughout the Region led to the reestablishment of endemic measles transmission in Canada in October 2025 and by persistent outbreaks in the United States, Mexico and Bolivia,” it stated.

Reuters contributed to this report.