Jefferson County reports first adult measles death in Pennsylvania outbreak

Nearly 700 cases recorded across 37 Pennsylvania counties

A Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, coroner announced Saturday that a 40-year-old woman died of complications associated with the state’s ongoing measles outbreak, marking what appears to be the third measles-related death in Pennsylvania and the first adult fatality.

Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner and Public Relations Officer Jason Stiver confirmed the death in reporting by WTAE in Pittsburgh. “Many people associate measles with a childhood illness, but it can lead to severe complications in individuals of any age,” Stiver said. Stiver urged residents to take the disease seriously. “Measles is highly contagious and can result in serious respiratory illness, hospitalization, and in rare cases like this, death. We encourage residents to stay informed, follow guidance from public health officials, and take appropriate steps to protect themselves and their families,” he said. “While cases of severe illness remain uncommon, this tragedy highlights that measles should not be taken lightly.”

The Jefferson County coroner’s office is reportedly working with Pennsylvania state health officials on the case. The state health department released its latest measles update on Friday, which did not reflect the death.

The two prior measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania were infants, both reported in August. According to the original reporting, one infant was born with a genetic defect that made her vulnerable to infection, and the second was infected with measles and died of a ruptured spleen.

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who has repeatedly linked vaccines to autism without evidence, has taken a different position on those deaths. Kennedy asked the CDC to exclude Pennsylvania’s two earlier measles deaths from its national tally and later acknowledged in a social media post that the CDC “waited for the evidence.” Pennsylvania state health officials have counted both deaths as measles-associated.

Kennedy, citing the Lancaster County Coroner, has also disputed the characterization of the two infant deaths. “The Lancaster County Coroner has now publicly stated that measles caused only the second infant’s death and has also publicly stated that the infant had Amish lethal microcephaly, a rare genetic condition in which infants typically live only about six months, received palliative care continuously from birth, and died at approximately two months of age,” Kennedy said. “The Coroner continues to state publicly that the first infant died from a lacerated spleen, not measles.”

Pennsylvania had recorded nearly 700 measles cases across 37 counties as of last week. The outbreak is heavily concentrated in Lancaster and Mifflin counties, both home to large farming communities. Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known to medicine; the virus hospitalizes one in every five unvaccinated people it infects, and between one and three children in every 1,000 die from measles-related respiratory and neurologic complications.

The CDC has released data showing a steady decline in kindergarten vaccination rates, including for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Experts have attributed the decline to two factors: the success of the vaccine itself — leaving few Americans with living memory of a time when children regularly died of measles — and confusion caused by Kennedy, who has repeatedly linked vaccines to autism without evidence.