Pennsylvania reports first US measles deaths in decades

Both people were unvaccinated Lancaster County residents

PENNSYLVANIA:

Two Pennsylvania residents died from measles, health officials said on Tuesday, the first such deaths this year in the United States, which is contending with the highest number of cases of the highly infectious disease in more than three decades as vaccination rates drop.

Both people were unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which did not release additional details, citing privacy concerns.

Pennsylvania has been one of the hardest-hit states this year, with ?393 measles cases across 28 counties so far. Lancaster County, in the southeastern part of the state, has had 185 cases,

but these were the first measles deaths recorded in the state in 35 years.

"Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don't fully understand the potential severity of the illness," said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health ?Debra Bogen.

The United States has had 2,777 confirmed cases so far this year of a disease that had been largely eradicated in the country, a reflection of declining vaccination rates and policies under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has worked for decades to discourage the use of vaccines.

Kennedy and President Donald Trump, who earlier this month issued an executive order calling for a reduction in recommended childhood vaccines, have promoted ?a long-debunked link between vaccines and autism contrary to established scientific evidence.

Trump's executive order doesn't help restore trust in life-saving vaccines, said Dr. Angela Dunn, former Utah state epidemiologist and previously a CDC division director in infectious disease response.

"We all thought the Texas outbreak and the deaths there last year would be a wake-up call. Then we had the outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah," Dunn said.

In 2025, three people died in an outbreak that began in West Texas and spread to New Mexico. The US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vaccination rates of 95% or higher can prevent outbreaks by creating what is known as herd immunity that protects people unable to be vaccinated. Two doses of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella shot provide 97% protection against the virus.