United States of America

Pa. Ties CDC Measles Aid Request to Recognizing 4 Deaths

Is stalling federal measles death counts a disgraceful politicization or a necessary push for one consistent national standard?

Published SEP 17

Pa. Ties CDC Measles Aid Request to Recognizing 4 Deaths

Story

Above: A fact sheet for measles in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Feb. 6. Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The Facts

Pennsylvania's health department said Thursday it was seeking emergency U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) support, known as an Epi-Aid, for its measles outbreak, on the condition that the federal agency publicly recognize the four measles-associated deaths reported by the state.
The Guardian
Reuters
In a Wednesday letter to CDC Director Erica Schwartz, state Health Secretary Debra Bogen wrote that the agency's "choice not to publicly recognize the deaths undermines our response," and said the request would be rescinded absent accurate communication.
The Guardian
CNBC
The state health department reported Wednesday that 731 measles cases have been confirmed across 38 counties in 2026, along with 141 hospitalizations and four measles-associated deaths. Four cases involved vaccinated individuals, under 1% of the total.
The Guardian
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Pennsylvania confirmed two additional measles-associated deaths Tuesday in Jefferson and Mifflin counties. An 18-year-old died of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and a 40-year-old woman died of respiratory failure. Both were unvaccinated.
Reuters
BBC News
PBS News
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has questioned whether deaths in U.S. measles outbreaks were caused by the virus, and said the CDC would add deaths to its tally once the National Center for Health Statistics determines measles was the underlying cause.
Reuters
The Guardian
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on X
Gov. Josh Shapiro said Kennedy directed the CDC to omit the deaths from its dashboard, while Kennedy said Shapiro "has chosen to politicize this outbreak." Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni said one infant with evidence of infection did not die as a result of measles.
The Washington Examiner
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on X
Josh Shapiro on X

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The Spin

Democratic narrative

Four people are dead in Pennsylvania in about four weeks, and stalling federal death counts over a paperwork technicality is a disgrace. Even setting aside the one contested infant case, three deaths are undisputed — measles killed a six-week-old, an 18-year-old, and a 40-year-old woman. A health secretary who pushes chicken soup and vitamin A while slow-walking the data is choosing politics over kids' lives.

Atlantic

PhillyVoice

Republican narrative

Dying with measles and dying from measles are not the same thing, and labeling a newborn's ruptured spleen a "measles-associated" death blurs that line the same way COVID counts did. Federal mortality statistics should follow one consistent national standard, not whichever tally a governor finds politically useful. Other states requested help and got outbreaks under control instead of grandstanding.