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The United States has recorded more than 5,000 cases of measles this year, the highest number in 35 years, according to an official count released Friday.

So far in 2026, 5,182 confirmed cases of the highly contagious but highly preventable disease have been reported across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nation's leading public health agency.

That compares with 2,289 cases during all of 2025 and is the highest level recorded by the CDC since 1991.

State health officials have reported at least eight measles-related deaths, including among very young children.

Pediatrician Adam Ratner, who specializes in infectious disease, told AFP such deaths are "tragic, and they are completely preventable."

Measles was declared eradicated from the United States in 2000 thanks to vaccination, but in recent years it has made a strong comeback, fueled by declining vaccination rates and growing public distrust of health authorities.

President Donald Trump's Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is accused of fanning that distrust. He is known for his vaccine skepticism and has repeatedly disseminated misinformation about the measles vaccine and downplayed the dangers of the disease.

"Kennedy does not believe that measles is a big problem and does not want to believe that there are deaths from measles," Ratner said.

"The burden of these diseases will fall on children, who are not the ones who are making these decisions."

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