Measles: Bangladesh leads global infections as the Americas move to "very high" risk

The morning edition updated the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This week’s second epidemiological front involves numbers of a different order of magnitude, concerning a disease for which a vaccine has existed for decades.

According to World Health Organization surveillance data collected in a peer-reviewed article, between December 2025 and May 2026 Bangladesh recorded 42,174 cases of measles, followed by India with 26,607, Yemen with 14,521, Mexico with 12,495 and Pakistan with 11,037. Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Guatemala, Angola and Sudan each reported fewer than 10,000 cases in the same period (Virulence). WHO data from August 2026 identify the South-East Asia region as the one with the highest number of confirmed cases in the year (Think Global Health).

Country	Cases (Dec. 2025 – May 2026)
Bangladesh	42,174
India	26,607
Yemen	14,521
Mexico	12,495
Pakistan	11,037

The Bangladeshi outbreak

By the end of July 2026, Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Health Services had tracked more than 120,000 suspected cases, of which 14,800 were laboratory-confirmed, and nearly 800 deaths, most of them children. UNICEF stated that the real number of cases is likely much higher and that the outbreak has put pressure on both the care system and the surveillance system (Virulence).

The response is documented: on April 5, 2026, the country launched an emergency campaign against measles and rubella with UNICEF, WHO and Gavi, and since April more than 18.4 million children have been vaccinated (arXiv, preprint). This latter source is a preliminary document not subject to peer review, which gathers materials from the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, Bangladesh’s health directorate and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The American picture

The Pan American Health Organization has classified the overall public health risk in the Americas as “very high.” Only 33 percent of countries in the region achieve coverage equal to or above 95 percent for the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and 20 percent for the second dose (PAHO/WHO).

In the United States, the CDC — the federal centers for disease control and prevention — recorded 3,134 confirmed cases as of September 3, 2026. Vaccination coverage measured among cohorts in the last preschool year fell from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 cycle to 92.4 percent in 2025-2026, and exemptions are at historic highs, with an 18 percent increase between the 2024-25 cycle and the following one (CDC).

The limits of these figures

These are surveillance data, not censuses: they depend on the capacity of health systems to detect, report and laboratory-confirm cases, and UNICEF itself states that Bangladesh’s figures are underestimated. The periods are not homogeneous — December-May for the WHO ranking, end of July for Bangladesh, September 3 for the United States — and suspected cases are not comparable with confirmed ones. Vaccination coverage figures are national aggregates and do not describe differences between territories.

This newspaper reports the assessments of the identified health authorities and offers no guidance to readers. The next verifiable element is the publication of surveillance updates following August 2026 by the WHO.

Sources: Virulence (Taylor & Francis), Think Global Health, PAHO/WHO, CDC, arXiv preprint.