Americans Are Getting Sick in Record Numbers—and It’s Not the Diarrhea

The Slatest Didn’t we eradicate this disease already? July 24, 20265:28 PM Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by ScrappinStacy/Getty Images Plus and Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. In last Friday’s newsletter, we told you about a foodborne parasitic outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across several states. Today we’re bringing you an update on a totally different ailment stalking Donald Trump’s America—one that was supposed to have been eliminated decades ago. Measles cases in the U.S. just set a depressing record, making 2026 the worst year for the disease since the Soviet Union collapsed. Here’s what’s behind the surge. Wait, slow down. What does measl