Pennsylvania and Wisconsin report new measles deaths

Health officials in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each reported a measles-associated death on Friday, Reuters reported. Pennsylvania's seventh measles-linked death this year was an unvaccinated Montour County resident, according to the state health department. Wisconsin officials said a child died, the state's second such death, and withheld other details to protect the family's privacy. New York state earlier this month reported its first measles-associated death in more than 30 years, also involving a child.

As of Friday, the state had tallied 1,542 cases across 46 counties and 305 people admitted to hospital, according to Reuters. Earlier deaths involved people from Lancaster, Jefferson and Mifflin counties, and officials added Bucks County to those with confirmed infections. Montour County, home to the latest fatality, has logged just four confirmed infections to date, TribLIVE reported. The coroner there did not answer a request for comment at once.

The CDC on Thursday confirmed six measles-related deaths nationwide this year, double the 2025 toll, without identifying the states involved, according to Reuters. That federal count trails the deaths announced by state health departments. The discrepancy arose after the CDC, under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., started relying on National Center for Health Statistics mortality data rather than state counts, Reuters reported. Franklin County's coroner reported an additional measles-related death more than a month ago, but the Pennsylvania Department of Health said Friday that a thorough investigation has not yet found any Franklin County case meeting the required criteria, TribLIVE reported. The state counts a death as measles-associated only when death occurs within 30 days of symptom onset and cannot be due to an unrelated cause, Clinical Observer reported Nov. 4. Kennedy previously feuded with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and state Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen over the nature of the first two Pennsylvania deaths, TribLIVE reported.

Nationwide infections have crossed 5,000 in 2026, a level not seen since 1991, per CDC figures cited by Reuters. An HHS spokesperson said: "Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz continue to recommend the MMR vaccine as the most effective way to prevent measles infection." William Moss, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that measles "will readily spread" where vaccine uptake is weak. An expert group convened by the Pan American Health Organization will soon decide if the country forfeits its measles elimination designation, Reuters said.

Health experts who spoke to TribLIVE said they believe the state case figures are a vast undercount.