PAHO
WHO's regional office for the Americas, founded 1902 and headquartered in Washington.
PAHO's 24 September 2026 measles report put the Americas at 53,957 confirmed cases, 3.8 times the 2025 pace, with 68 deaths, with Peru and the United States now adding cases faster than Guatemala.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Did PAHO's December hantavirus alert reach Antarctic cruise operators before MV Hondius sailed?
Timeline for PAHO
Counted mammal outbreaks down 64.8%
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Cambodia confirms sixth human H5N1 caseCounted 53,957 confirmed cases in 17 countries
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Peru overtakes Guatemala on new measlesMentioned in: Bangladesh: 1,030 die of measles in 2026
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: Somalia's 42 measles deaths on 730 cases
Pandemics and BiosecurityPublished Guatemala and Mexico's confirmed case counts
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Guatemala passes Mexico on measles casesBackground
PAHO (the Pan American Health Organization) is the World Health Organization's regional office for the Americas. It was founded in 1902 as the International Sanitary Bureau, is headquartered in Washington and serves 35 member states. Its director, Jarbas Barbosa, told the 63rd Directing Council on 28 September 2026 that the region had lost its measles-free status after sustained transmission was re-established in Canada.
PAHO's fortnightly measles situation reports are the reference count for the Americas, and it tracks avian influenza across the region, counting mammal H5N1 outbreaks in the Americas down 64.8% year on year to mid-July 2026. Its earlier regional tally put human H5N1 infections since 2022 at 75 cases and two deaths in five countries. Guatemala overtook Mexico as the region's largest measles outbreak in its July figures.
Washington's 2027 budget request threatens PAHO's funding. The United States left the WHO but remains a PAHO member and host, and its administration proposes ending US contributions to PAHO, and Health Policy Watch reported US arrears of nearly $135m in September 2026.
PAHO's count runs nearly four times 2025
PAHO's twelfth measles situation report, published on 24 September, logged 68 deaths among 53,957 confirmed cases by 19 September. Guatemala holds 33,866 cases and 45 deaths, but in the fortnight to 12 September it added 176, against 190 in Peru and 290 in the United States. Regional new cases fell 43% in a fortnight, from 1,244 to 709, though 333 of the earlier figure were late reports.
The organisation now supports Peru's response in Puno and Arequipa. It warns that the Señor de los Milagros festivities in October and the papal visit due in November could spread the virus. Its Regional Verification Commission has visited Mexico, Bolivia and Peru to review their elimination status. In June the count stood at 20,521, already about four times the 2025 total.
PAHO's warning came five months early
On 19 December 2025 PAHO issued a formal hantavirus alert that flagged elevated caseloads and rising lethality in the Southern Cone. That was five months before the MV Hondius expedition cruise sailed from Ushuaia and became the centre of an Andes virus cluster. Antarctic cruise operators have no formal duty to subscribe to PAHO's epidemiological alerts.
The cluster grew across six countries in May 2026. By 12 May European surveillance counted 11 cases, three more than WHO's count of eight from 9 May. For PAHO the episode shows the limit of its alerts: a warning reaches health ministries, but nothing obliges the travel operators WHO carry the risk to read it.
What is PAHO and how does it relate to WHO?
Did PAHO warn about hantavirus before the MV Hondius outbreak?
How many H5N1 human cases has PAHO recorded in the Americas?
Why does PAHO's hantavirus alert matter for Antarctic tourism?
How many measles cases has PAHO recorded in the Americas in 2026?
Who is the director of PAHO?
Have the Americas lost measles elimination status?
Is the United States still a member of PAHO?
