Mexico leads in measles cases as PAHO urges urgent vaccination drives

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The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued a new epidemiological alert for measles across the Americas as case counts surged, with Mexico reporting the highest numbers and other countries watching closely as outbreaks spread. PAHO’s alert, announced on Wednesday, accompanied calls for urgent vaccination campaigns and warned that a large share of recent infections were concentrated among people who were not vaccinated.

PAHO said that in the first three weeks of 2026 it confirmed 1,031 new measles cases across seven countries, describing the figure as a dramatic jump from the same period last year. The agency said the upward trend has continued and that the situation is likely to remain difficult in the months ahead as regional coordination and immunization coverage become more urgent.

In PAHO’s reported tally, Mexico led with 740 cases, followed by the United States with 171 and Canada with 67. The alert also comes after Canada lost its measles-free status in November, a change that the report said both the United States and Mexico could soon face if their outbreaks worsen.

The regional health group linked the surge to immunization gaps, saying that 78% of recent measles cases involved people who were unvaccinated. PAHO also said the broader backdrop has included a global resurgence of measles, and it said the Americas’ situation reflects “persistent immunization gaps.”

In Mexico, PAHO said the state of Jalisco in western Mexico recorded the country’s highest incidence rate this year. The report also pointed to the prior year’s major outbreaks in Chihuahua and in neighboring Texas as part of the wider North American context for the current rise.

The alert described Mexico’s vaccination push as increasingly targeted and operational, with authorities spending weeks urging the public to get the two-dose vaccine. It also said Mexico has established mobile vaccination clinics in high-traffic locations such as airports and bus terminals, and that in Mexico City, Mayor Clara Brugada launched 2,000 new vaccination modules this week to expand access.

Brugada urged residents to get vaccinated if they were under 49 years old, saying the vaccine was now available throughout the city. The report said the new modules are being placed outside health centers and within major subway stations, bringing the campaign to transit corridors where officials expect many people to pass through.

PAHO said cases have risen alongside other evidence of uneven immunization, including that only a portion of countries in the region have reached high coverage for both doses. The agency said just 33% of countries had reached the 95% threshold for the first vaccine dose and 20% had achieved it for the second.

Finally, PAHO said that although adolescents and young adults account for the largest volume of cases, incidence rates were highest among children under 1. The pattern, the alert suggested, reinforced the need to strengthen second-dose coverage even as countries work to stop ongoing transmission.