US faces losing its WHO-affiliated measles-free status amid rise in cases, fewer vaccinations

An independent commission connected to the World Health Organization is set to decide this week whether the U.S. should lose its measles-free status the groups have given the country.   

The eight-member panel is for the Pan American Health Organization, which serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, the specialized health agency of the United Nations.

The panel is made up of epidemiologists, infectious disease and vaccine experts from countries in the Americas, according to NBC News. 

Canada is now the only country in the region to have lost the groups' measles-free status, and the U.S. losing it would mark a decades-long effort to stop the spread of the world’s most contagious disease.

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has increased from roughly 100 in 2000 to over 5,000 this year. Also this year, eight people have died, including four babies too young to be vaccinated, NBC News also reports.

The country's measles immunization rate has fallen amid concerns that children are over-vaccinated.

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine rate among kindergartners is now at roughly 92.5% – below the 95% threshold needed to prevent the transmission of measles virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.