Measles cases top 25-year record

It’s official: 2019 is the worst year for measles in the U.S. in a quarter-century. There have been 971 cases so far this year, according to the CDC, topping the previous record of 963 in 1994. To date, 26 states have reported cases and 10 states are currently battling outbreaks. The bulk of the cases have occurred in New York, which has two large and long-running outbreaks in and around New York City. Public health officials are hoping this year doesn’t break the next record, which is the more than 2,200 cases of measles in 1992. They’re also hoping the New York outbreaks can be stopped in time to preserve the country’s status as having eliminated endemic measles. An outbreak lasting more than a year would threaten that status.