The US recently hit a new record—and not a good one. The country has now seen more measles cases in 2025 than in any single year since the virus was considered eliminated in 2000, according to CDC data.
As of July 29, there have been 1,333 confirmed measles cases in the US, according to the CDC. The previous record was 1,274 cases in 2019, which largely occurred in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York that had a low vaccination rate.
Most of the cases this year (762) have been in Texas, connected to an outbreak that started in January. New Mexico and Kansas are also seeing upticks in cases this year, with New Mexico reporting 96 as of July 24 and Kansas reporting 90 as of July 23.
With cases of the highly contagious and deadly virus continuing to rise, Healthcare Brew asked executives across the healthcare industry how the spread of measles is affecting their respective sectors as well as what health leaders can do to slow the spread.
Hospitals
Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Medical Center, told Healthcare Brew that while measles so far hasn’t significantly impaired the US healthcare system as a whole, the uptick in cases is putting a strain on local systems in outbreak areas, particularly in rural locations “where we know that access to healthcare tends to be significantly less than in some urban areas.”
“It is important to remember and consider it is not only the population health of the growing measles epidemic but also the individual toll it takes,” Hawkinson said. “Getting sick or needing to be hospitalized significantly impacts each patient and typically their family.”
To help combat the spread of measles, he said hospital leaders and public health authorities need to “be vigilant in providing accurate, transparent messaging about potential risks of the measles, which could include death.
“While there is no treatment for measles itself, we have a very safe and effective preventative intervention with vaccination,” Hawkinson said. “It is a combination of these things—measles awareness, accurate messaging, access to healthcare and vaccination—that will help to combat the rise of measles cases.”
Health tech
Brad Perkins, chief medical officer of Karius, a health tech company that focuses on infectious disease diagnostics, told us measles outbreaks are “exposing systemic vulnerabilities in vaccination coverage and public trust, undermining decades of progress in US measles control and elimination.”
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“The resurgence of measles in the US is placing renewed strain on a healthcare system already stretched by chronic workforce shortages, persistent post-pandemic disruptions, and chronic budget uncertainties,” Perkins said.
Like Hawkinson, he stressed the need for health tech leaders to combat misinformation and support vaccine education.
“Leadership in this moment means advocating for evidence-based foundations of public health and the critical importance of routine childhood vaccinations,” he said.
Retail pharmacy and pharmaceuticals
Anita Patel, VP of pharmacy services development at Walgreens, told Healthcare Brew the growing number of measles cases in the US is a “reminder of how essential routine vaccinations are,” adding that the virus puts an “unnecessary strain on our healthcare systems and leads to avoidable hospitalizations and suffering.”
As pharmacies are one of the most common places where people are immunized, pharmacy leaders “play a critical role in vaccine education and access,” Patel said.
Amy Compton-Phillips, EVP and chief medical officer at CVS Health, said the rise in measles cases are placing an “unnecessary strain” on the healthcare system, increasing costs by requiring additional staffing and resources.
Providers should “take steps to remind patients about the illness, its dangers, and the safe and effective ways to help prevent it,” she added. “Pharmacies can also play an important role in the fight against measles by reinforcing the importance of preventive vaccination for patients, particularly for those with known vaccination gaps.”
Alison Hunt, a spokesperson for GSK, a UK-based drugmaker that makes the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine Priorix, told us the company has been working with “local governments, healthcare providers, and public health partners” to boost vaccination rates in outbreak areas.
GSK has enough MMR vaccines for the current outbreaks, and the company is monitoring the situation to make sure it maintains an adequate supply, Hunt said.