Fifth unvaccinated person dies of measles in Pennsylvania; CDC count remains incomplete

A fifth unvaccinated person has died of measles in Pennsylvania, the state’s health department announced Wednesday, deepening a statewide outbreak that has now reached 943 cases across 39 counties.

The death, in Lancaster County, is the third reported in the outbreak’s epicenter and underscores the stakes as state health officials rush to administer vaccines while federal disease trackers decline to count all deaths.

The deceased is a Lancaster County resident. Lancaster County has reported 381 cases and three of the five deaths. The previous two deaths in the county were both infants too young to be vaccinated: a newborn boy and a 6-week-old baby girl. No other information about the county’s third death has been released.

The updated case count as of Wednesday is 943 across 39 counties, including 119 cases reported in just the last seven days. At least 176 people have been hospitalized.

The other two deaths were an unvaccinated 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County who developed a severe neurological complication of measles, and an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman with several chronic underlying health conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Before these five deaths, Pennsylvania had not reported a measles death in 35 years. They are the only measles deaths reported this year in the United States.

Last year, the U.S. saw three measles deaths: two otherwise healthy, unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico, all connected to a large West Texas outbreak. Prior to 2025, the country had not seen a measles death since 2015.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 because of high vaccination rates, but vaccination exemptions have hit an all-time high amid anti-vaccine misinformation, including from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied at least 3,659 measles cases this year, the highest on record since 1991.

Under Kennedy’s influence, the CDC has resisted reporting the Pennsylvania deaths. The agency altered its criteria for what counts as a measles death and is currently reporting only two deaths. It is unclear which two have been counted.

State health officials are racing to vaccinate residents. State nurses have administered more than 8,500 doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine this year, including more than 5,500 doses given at pop-up clinics in outbreak areas.

“The best protection against measles remains getting fully vaccinated,” the health department reiterated Wednesday. “The MMR vaccine, administered over two doses, boosts a person’s immune system and provides 97 percent lifetime protection.”