3 articles · Updated · The Philadelphia Inquirer · Aug 31
Summary
Two Pennsylvania deaths tied by the state to measles were left out of the CDC’s latest weekly outbreak update because available information did not show measles caused or contributed to either death.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration of withholding information and suggested the deaths may have been fabricated, while Pennsylvania says it is in regular contact with the CDC and met agency staff last week.
Pennsylvania defines “measles-associated deaths” broadly—when evidence of measles is present even if it is not the immediate cause—and has disclosed only that both victims were unvaccinated Lancaster County residents, including one newborn.
Lancaster County’s coroner said the newborn contracted measles before birth but died from a ruptured spleen; measles was listed on the death certificate as a contributing condition, not the underlying cause.
The dispute comes as the CDC reported 2,887 confirmed U.S. measles cases across 47 states and Pennsylvania counted 460 cases and 83 hospitalizations in its biggest outbreak in three decades.