Pennsylvania reports another measles-related death, the 2nd in Jefferson County
Sarah BodenToday at 4:24 p.m.
Measles
An unvaccinated resident of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, tested positive for measles and has died, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) today.
Jefferson County is about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh and lost another resident to measles complications back in September.
No other information about this most recent death is being released, said the DOH, citing privacy for the deceased and the family.
"DOH is bound by laws that limit what can be shared publicly, and families deserve the dignity to mourn in private," the agency said in a press release.
This is the second measles-associated death reported in the United States this week. A child in Lewis County, New York, recently died of measles, according to the New York State Department of Health.
This is New York's first such death in 30 years. No other information about the late child was provided.
Uncertainty over number of Pennsylvania deaths
There's some confusion as to whether this second fatality out of Jefferson County marks the sixth or the seventh measles-associated death of a Pennsylvania resident this year.In October, the Franklin County coroner said a 39-year-old unvaccinated woman with underlying health conditions had died after a "recent history of a measles diagnosis," and a spokesperson for the coroner told NBC News that the "primary cause of death was a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles."
While the DOH is aware of this report, it said its investigation "has not yet found any Franklin County cases meeting the required criteria to be confirmed as a measles-associated death."
The department told CIDRAP News it could not share any additional information, other than that, per the DOH's epidemiologic definition, a measles-associated death must not be due to unrelated causes and must have occurred within 30 days of symptom onset in a person with clinical evidence of infection. Other information, such as whether the patient was exposed to a confirmed measles case prior to death or supporting medical records, is also considered.
US measles cases near 5,000
With this death, Pennsylvania continues to be the epicenter of measles activity in the United States. State officials have reported 1,467 cases this year, including 34 newly confirmed infections in the past two days. This is the largest state outbreak in more than three decades.There have been 4,852 confirmed cases of measles reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2026, according to data the agency released on October 30.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but the country could lose this status after next week, when a commission of the Pan American Health Organization meets in Washington, DC, for its sixth annual meeting to discuss regional monitoring of measles and rubella elimination.