This is a list of diseases known (or declared) 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. (Since some diseases can be eliminated and then reintroduced at a later time, such diseases are still eligible for the list, but with the fact of reintroduction noted.) 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 (e.g., measles) are considered eliminated when no cases have been reported to public health authorities for at least 12 months.
(NB: In recent years, "elimination" is the preferred term for "regional eradication" of a disease; the term "eradication" is reserved for the reduction of an infectious disease's global prevalence to zero.)
Possible future eliminations
Various public health projects are ongoing with a goal of eliminating diseases from the country. Note that several infectious diseases in the United States, not on the above list, are considered close to elimination (98-99% reductions): e.g., Hemophilus influenzae, mumps, rubella, congenital rubella, tetanus. Other disease pathogens (e.g., those of anthrax and rabies) have been almost entirely eliminated from humans in the US, but remain as hazards in the environment and so cannot accurately be described as eliminated. The stated goal of "eradication" of hookworm from the southeast US (1915-20) was not achieved, although the hookworm-infection rate of that region did drop by more than half.