WTOP The United States is seeing nearly 1,000 cases of measles in the first two months of 2026, a record surge that has alarmed health care providers. More than 980 have been reported across 26 states as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more than four times the total number of measles cases recorded for all of 2025.
Virginia has recorded 10 cases, including six in children ages 0 to 4.
In Maryland, health officials have reported several possible exposure locations after people with confirmed measles cases traveled through the state in January and February. None of those cases are connected, and Maryland has not recorded a confirmed measles case since March 2025. Jennifer Walsh, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing at George Washington University, told WTOP that what’s “so scary to pediatric providers is how unbelievably contagious and how devastating measles can be.”