Pennsylvania measles outbreak 2026

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said congenital measles can lead to severe brain and immune system issues later in life.

The measles vaccine can be given to women after they deliver their babies and is safe for breastfeeding mothers, according to state health officials.

There is evidence that SSPE may occur earlier in children born with congenital measles.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a health alert warning doctors about congenital measles.

MMR is not recommended once pregnancy begins because it contains live virus.

Only measles infections that occur in the last two weeks of pregnancy or the first 10 days post-delivery are considered congenital.

Six people have reportedly died from measles in Pennsylvania, with the latest death pending investigation by the state health department.

Congenital measles cases had not been seen in the US for decades before the current outbreak.

As of October 19, Pennsylvania had reported 1,286 measles cases in 2026 across 42 counties.

The county coroner posted a news release stating the 18-year-old Amish girl died of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

Measles-positive mothers in Pennsylvania have passed the virus on to their newborns.

193 measles cases had been confirmed in Mifflin County since July.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated that the rhetoric from the administration is having a negative impact on communities, particularly in Pennsylvania.

Alice Yoder was elected to the Lancaster County board of commissioners in 2023.

Six measles-associated deaths had been confirmed in Pennsylvania as of the time of reporting.

This is the CDC's first in-person assistance to Pennsylvania after a social media feud in August between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Since August, six people diagnosed with measles have died in Pennsylvania according to health officials and county coroners.

The scientist being sent is part of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service.

Many children with measles are not hospitalized until the illness has already spread through their entire families.

Parents of unvaccinated children with measles were surprised by the severity of the virus's complications.

The woman died on Saturday, October 10.

The measles outbreak spans 41 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.

As of October 9, Pennsylvania's health department reported 1,136 measles cases in the state since the start of the year.

Pennsylvania's measles outbreak began in April and is centered in Lancaster County.

Chester County health officials warned of possible measles exposures at multiple pharmacies on October 4.

Oxford Area High School was closed on Friday, October 9, due to a confirmed measles case.

The Chester County Health Department warned the public about a possible measles exposure at several local stores.

One exposure location was the Giant at 849 Baltimore Pike, West Grove, 19390, between 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.

People who are not protected against measles can contract the virus up to two hours after someone with measles left the same room or airspace, according to health officials.

School officials said the Chester County Health Department will contact anyone believed to have been exposed to measles.

Pennsylvania has surpassed 1,000 measles cases.

Jeanne Franklin said officials had been working closely with school nurses and superintendents ahead of the school year because of concerns about measles transmission.

The first measles case for an Allegheny County resident was identified the week prior to this report, with possible exposures at a Target on McKnight Road in McCandless.

The Allegheny County Health Department declined to provide details about the second infected person, citing privacy.

A child who attends a private Christian school in the North Hills has been infected with measles, the second confirmed case in Allegheny County.

The current Pennsylvania measles outbreak began in April 2026.

There have been 207 hospitalizations and five deaths among the measles cases.

Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000.

Lancaster county is the hardest hit area in Pennsylvania with 391 cases.

Five Pennsylvania residents have died after contracting measles.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has publicly questioned whether Pennsylvania's recorded measles fatalities were directly caused by measles.

In Pennsylvania, establishing a county health department requires a referendum but is not required by the state.

Lancaster county community members are attempting to establish their own health department to better tackle the outbreak.

Montgomery county is the third most populous county in Pennsylvania.

Paul Offit, who heads the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said the number of adult deaths from measles is striking.

The woman was the last of nine siblings sickened when measles swept through her unvaccinated family's home in Lancaster County.

Paul Offit said measles commonly leads to pneumonia and the virus reproduces in the lungs.

For all of 2025, a total of 2,289 confirmed measles cases were reported nationwide.

State health center staff have administered more than 7,900 MMR vaccine doses to residents across Pennsylvania in 2026.

31% of the measles cases in Pennsylvania are among people younger than 18.

Dr. Stanley Martin, an infectious-disease specialist at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, said he has seen well over 90 cases of measles this year.

Kennedy has maintained that the Trump administration's response to the measles outbreak is working.

The Trump administration has cast doubt on the measles vaccine.

Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni, a Republican, said one of the two infants died of a ruptured spleen rather than measles itself.

Estimates suggest around only a quarter of Amish people in the Lancaster area have had the MMR vaccine.

Pennsylvania has reported four deaths from measles complications, marking the most deadly US measles outbreak since 1992.

About 90,000 Amish people live in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania measles outbreak began in late April.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. disputed at least one of the reported measles deaths on social media.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health hosted the clinic.

Some attendees said they came to get vaccinated because they were scared of getting sick and that many people in the Plain community have contracted measles.

In August, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and its providers vaccinated more than 46,000 people with the MMR vaccine, compared to a typical monthly figure of 25,000.

Pennsylvania has reported 731 measles cases.

Dr John Goldman said the outbreak seems to be accelerating.

About one to two people in a million experience severe side effects from vaccines.

Pennsylvania has confirmed four measles-associated deaths.

The airport measles exposure occurred in Terminals B and F, and in areas connecting to Terminals C, D, and E, on Sunday, Sept. 13, from 7:25 p.m. to Monday, Sept. 14, at 12:05 a.m.

The health department stated that a person with measles was traveling through Philadelphia and stayed in the airport.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has administered more than 4,400 MMR doses at 140 pop-up clinics in affected communities and over 6,800 doses statewide in 2026.

Pennsylvania has asked the CDC to acknowledge the four deaths, report them transparently on its public dashboard, and communicate accurate and timely information about the outbreak.

Pennsylvania will withdraw its Epi-Aid request if the CDC does not publicly and accurately recognize the four measles-associated deaths.

The exposure took place at PHL terminals B and F, and areas used to connect to other terminals in C, D, and E.

The airport measles exposure warning is unrelated to a recent measles exposure at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health issued a warning about a second possible measles exposure in the city.

The US is currently seeing the worst measles outbreak in the country since 1991.

HHS said it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition for measles deaths.

HHS said the CDC had not received Pennsylvania's request through its normal channels.

Shapiro said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally intervened to direct the CDC to not report the Pennsylvania deaths.

Dr. Stanley Martin is the director of infectious diseases at Geisinger.

A federal public dashboard shows no measles deaths so far this year.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is urging anyone who may have been present during those times to review their vaccination status and monitor for symptoms.

Early symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose, cough and red, watery eyes, followed by a rash.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is warning patients and visitors about a possible measles exposure at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that only one of the previously reported two deaths was directly linked to measles infection.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 731 measles cases on September 16, 2026.

The CDC did not include the 2026 deaths in its measles tally as of September 16, 2026.

The Senate Health Committee is considering Trump's nominations of Nicole Saphier for surgeon general, Chris Klomp for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, and Timothy Westlake to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Cassidy pressed Dr Nicole Saphier, the Trump administration's nominee for surgeon general, on whether she believes the MMR vaccine causes autism.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy blamed the Trump administration's vaccination policies for rising measles deaths.

One baby died at birth after his mother, also infected with measles, went into labor a month early.

A nasal swab taken from the woman upon her death tested positive for measles.

Three others died of complications related to measles in 2025: one adult in New Mexico and two young girls in Texas.

Of the reported measles cases in Pennsylvania, 124 patients have been hospitalized.

A 40-year-old female resident of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, died on September 12, 2026, from complications associated with measles.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has disputed the number of measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania officials.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly asked the CDC to exclude Pennsylvania's two measles deaths from its tally.

The 40-year-old woman died on Saturday, according to reporting by WTAE in Pittsburgh.

A 40-year-old woman in Pennsylvania died associated with the state's ongoing measles outbreak.

Two infant deaths in Pennsylvania in August 2026 were associated with a measles outbreak.

Diamantoni said measles did not contribute to Ivan Miller's ruptured spleen and was noted on the death certificate only because it was a significant condition present at the time of death.

Measles is listed on Ivan Miller's death certificate as a contributing factor.

Diamantoni said measles did not contribute to Ivan Miller's ruptured spleen and was noted on the death certificate only because it was considered a significant condition at the time of death.

CDC staffers had already accepted the state's characterization of the deaths as linked to measles before Kennedy's request.

Diamantoni's office performed an autopsy on Ivan Miller and determined that he died of a ruptured spleen.

Doctors say the first dose of the MMR vaccine is traditionally given at 12 months.

Lancaster County has reported 268 measles cases.

Lancaster County has the highest number of measles cases in Pennsylvania.

The coroner told WGAL that a ruptured spleen, not measles, was the cause of death in the first case.

The first measles-related death in Lancaster County occurred on 14 August and involved an infant whose mother had measles.

Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni said the infant had Amish lethal microcephaly.

Infants born with Amish lethal microcephaly typically only live about six months.

The child died after about two months.

A previous infant death in Lancaster County occurred on Aug. 14.

Pennsylvania reported 460 confirmed measles cases as of Aug. 28.

Nearly every person infected during the Wisconsin outbreak had not received the MMR vaccine.

Wisconsin has recorded 100 measles cases in 2026, its highest annual total since 1990.

Kennedy and Shapiro had a heated phone call just before Shapiro's Tuesday announcement, according to The Washington Post.

Kennedy said the announcement appears to have been premature and the deaths may have been fabricated.

The majority of infected persons in Pennsylvania are not vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested on social media that the reported deaths might have been fabricated.

Pennsylvania officials reported that two unvaccinated residents died following a measles infection.

U.S. measles vaccination rates have fallen below the 95% threshold required to prevent outbreaks.

About 35,000 people in Pennsylvania have been vaccinated for measles as cases have risen.

The overall U.S. kindergarten vaccination rate inched down last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high.

About 88% of kindergartners in Lancaster County were up to date on their measles vaccines during the last school year.

Three people died from a measles outbreak in 2025 that began in West Texas and spread to New Mexico.

The US has seen 2,777 confirmed cases of measles in 2026.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that calls for fewer childhood vaccinations and recommends splitting the MMR vaccine into three separate shots.

These were the first measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years.

Shapiro said every single measles case this year was someone who was not fully vaccinated.

Two unvaccinated Pennsylvania residents have died after being infected with measles, marking the first U.S. measles deaths of the year.