Pennsylvania Reports Fourth Measles Death as Outbreak Continues
Pennsylvania has confirmed its fourth death connected to measles, the most in the U.S. since 1992. Read on for the details of this growing outbreak.
Fourth Measles Death Reported in Pennsylvania
Four people have died in Pennsylvania as a measles outbreak spreads through unvaccinated people in the Commonwealth. The latest victim was an unvaccinated 18-year-old from Mifflin County. According to county coroner Andrea Alacalde, the teen died from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. This rare neurological condition is triggered after an infection such as measles.
This is the second measles death in Pennsylvania in less than a week. The Jefferson County coroner also reported that a 40-year-old woman died over the weekend. Two infants also lost their lives earlier in this outbreak.
You have to go back to 1992 to find the last time that the U.S. saw four measles deaths in a year. The 2025 outbreak claimed two lives in Texas and one in New Mexico.
“My thoughts are with the two families who lost loved ones to this highly-contagious virus, as Pennsylvania faces the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen on Tuesday. Bogen went on to note that “We remain committed to working with our partners across Pennsylvania to stem this outbreak and prevent more deaths. That means ensuring people have the facts about measles and access to the MMR vaccine – which kept measles outbreaks at bay for decades.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro weighed in on the latest news on X, calling the recent rash of deaths "tragedies." The Democratic governor wrote that “This disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 — yet decades later, we are seeing it surge due to lower vaccination rates.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the MMR vaccine is standard protocol to protect against measles. The CDC notes that two doses of the vaccine, typically administered at one year of age and again at four, provide 97% protection. The MMR vaccine was approved in 1963 and has been proven to be safe since that time. Mild side effects generally dissipate quickly without treatment.
Lagging vaccination rates are being blamed for the recent surge in measles cases and deaths. Pennsylvania has recorded 693 cases across 38 counties in 2026. CDC data confirms over 3,200 measles cases nationwide thus far this year.
Roughly 20% of unvaccinated measles cases lead to hospitalization. The CDC notes that as many as 1 out of every 20 children who come down with measles go on to develop pneumonia, the most likely cause of death from the virus in this age group. Data show that 1 to 3 out of every 1,000 children infected with measles die.
Recent Measles Deaths Stoking Political Fires
The topic of vaccination has become a hot-button issue in U.S. politics. One of the most controversial issues surrounding this debate is that the CDC has not formally counted any of the measles deaths this year. CDC director Dr. Erica Schwartz made the decision to exclude the fatalities from the government agency's weekly update, saying that there is not enough information to prove that measles was responsible.
Gov. Shapiro said in August, after the first two deaths, that he was not accepting help from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Shapiro is not happy with Kennedy and his "actions and rhetoric" regarding measles, including spreading false information about vaccine safety.
Kennedy responded to Shapiro by accusing the governor of trying to stoke fear and using the virus for political gain. Kennedy went so far as to suggest that a Shapiro staff member had "fabricated" the deaths.
The two infant deaths in Lancaster County have been a source of controversy. County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni noted that his forensic pathologist deemed that one of the newborns died of a ruptured spleen that was not caused by the virus. The other infant death happened in a six-week-old with a genetic condition known as Amish lethal microcephaly. Diamantoni told CNN that measles triggers this condition.
Shapiro once again criticized Kennedy this week following the two new deaths. Posting on X, Shapiro said that “This serious situation continues to be made worse by RFK Jr. playing games with public health and safety. It’s long past time for @SecKennedy to stop stoking vaccine skepticism and misinformation and compromising the serious mission of the nation’s public health agencies."
Kennedy responded by saying that HHS “will report measles-caused deaths when the National Center for Health Statistics reports measles as the underlying cause based on death record information submitted by the states.” He also accused Shapiro of being more concerned with politicizing the situation rather than "implementing a unified public health response" and accepting help from the federal government.
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