List of diseases eliminated from the United States
This is a list of diseases known to have been eliminated from the United States, either permanently or at one time. Most of the diseases listed were eliminated after coordinated public health campaigns. Some entries are based on formal public health declarations, others are based on reliable information in the medical or public health literature. Since some diseases can be eliminated, but subsequently reimported without transmitting additional endemic cases, these are noted in a dedicated column. Although no fixed rule always applies, many infectious diseases are considered eliminated when no cases have been reported to public health authorities for at least 12 months.
The eliminated diseases
| Disease | Date last endemic case | Date last imported case | Notes | Reference |
| Yellow fever | 1905 | 1996 | Last epidemic 1905, New Orleans; last imported case 1996 | |
| Smallpox | 1934 | 1949 | After widespread national vaccination efforts; routine vaccination of U.S. children discontinued in 1973; declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. | |
| Babesia bovis babesiosis | 1943 | Cattle disease; occasionally infects humans. | ||
| Malaria | 1951 | 2016 | See National Malaria Eradication Program | |
| Poliomyelitis | 1979 | After widespread vaccination efforts; see Poliomyelitis eradication. | ||
| Measles | 2000 | 2019 | After widespread national vaccination efforts. | |
| Rubella | 2004 | After widespread national vaccination efforts. | ||
| Diphtheria | 2012 | After widespread national vaccination efforts. |
Possible future eliminations
Various public health projects are going on, with a goal of eliminating diseases from the country. Several infectious diseases in the United States, not on the above list, are considered close to elimination : e.g., Haemophilus influenzae, mumps, rubella and congenital rubella. Other disease pathogens have been almost entirely eliminated from humans in the US, but remain as hazards in the environment, so cannot accurately be described as eliminated. The stated goal of "eradication" of hookworm from the southeast US was not achieved, although the hookworm-infection rate of that region did drop by more than half.- In 1954, Congressional funds were first approved for a Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program to eliminate the disease from the country.
- The CDC Division of TB Elimination has a goal of controlling tuberculosis and eliminating it from the United States by minimizing the likelihood of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission, which will prevent the occurrence of new cases.
- The Oral Rabies Vaccine Program has a goal of preventing the spread of raccoon variant rabies and eventually eliminating it from the United States.
- An effort has been made for several years to eliminate syphilis from the US. The rate of infection decreased through the 1990s, and in 2000, it was the lowest since reporting began in 1941, leading the US Surgeon General to issue a plan to eliminate the disease from the country. It has been staging a comeback, however, increasing each year since 2001.