State reports four deaths; fewer than 1% of cases among vaccinated
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported on Friday that 55 new measles cases had been confirmed in the state since Wednesday, bringing the year’s total to 890 across 39 counties. The department said the outbreak has resulted in 173 hospitalizations and four measles-associated deaths.
State health officials said fewer than 1% of reported cases have occurred among individuals vaccinated against measles. According to state data, 31% of cases are among people younger than 18. Lancaster County has recorded the highest number of cases in the state for the year, with 359 positive cases.
The department said it was “proactively working with residents, community organizations and healthcare providers to combat the measles outbreak … through access to fact-based information and access to the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.” Since the outbreak began in late April, state officials said they had administered more than 5,300 MMR vaccinations at 165 pop-up vaccination clinics in affected communities. State health center staff have administered more than 7,900 MMR vaccine doses to residents across Pennsylvania this year, the department said, and healthcare providers across the state have seen a “surge of interest from residents seeking MMR vaccinations.” Dozens of additional clinics are scheduled in the coming weeks and months based on community interest and need.
The Friday update came against the backdrop of a public dispute between Pennsylvania officials and federal health authorities over the outbreak’s death toll. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom The Guardian described as a longtime vaccine skeptic, wrote on social media that the Pennsylvania deaths “may even have been altogether fabricated” for political reasons. In August, the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered agency staff not to include two measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania in its national tally, as the agency said it was reviewing “additional information” regarding the deaths.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said the “best protection against measles remains getting fully vaccinated” and that the MMR vaccine “boosts a person’s immune system and provides 97% lifetime protection.” The CDC advises that two doses of the MMR vaccine “provide the best protection against measles.” The department also said death from measles, though rare, “occurs in one to three patients per 1,000 cases.”
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, but the virus has more recently spread in under-vaccinated communities. The CDC says measles can spread to others through coughing and sneezing, and the virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace after an infected person leaves an area. Symptoms usually begin seven to 14 days after infection and can include high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes, followed by a rash that spreads down the body.
According to CDC data, more than 3,659 confirmed measles cases had been reported in the United States as of September 24. For all of 2025, a total of 2,289 confirmed measles cases were reported nationwide.