A disease coming back like this has a subtly devastating quality. Measles was supposed to be eradicated in the United States; it was declared eradicated in 2000, reduced to a footnote in pediatric textbooks, and the kind of disease that parents of a particular generation recall contracting as children before the risks were sufficiently understood to prevent it. Nevertheless, in August 2026, Pennsylvania reported over 420 cases of measles, two of which were fatal and one of which involved a baby.
The two deaths in Lancaster County are the first measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years and the first nationwide this year. They were both unvaccinated. On a Tuesday afternoon that soon ceased to be ordinary, the state’s Department of Health verified this.
In retrospect, it seems almost inevitable that Lancaster County would become the epicenter of this outbreak. The county has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state, and there is a long-standing population of people who have chosen not to get vaccinated for personal and religious reasons. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was then in charge of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, traveled to Lancaster County in 2021 and raised concerns about the MMR vaccine while making light of his own childhood measles case. It’s hard to say for sure whether that visit planted seeds or just watered ones that were already there. The county currently has 197 confirmed cases, which is almost half of the state’s total.
A newborn was one of the two fatalities. The infant tested positive for measles, according to Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, but the autopsy revealed that a ruptured spleen—rather than the virus itself—was the cause of death. For several days, that distinction served as the starting point for a political dispute that eclipsed nearly everything else. Kennedy, who is currently the Secretary of Health and Human Services, reposted a statement from a county commissioner questioning whether the deaths were actually caused by measles. He went so far as to speculate on social media that a governor’s office employee might have “altogether fabricated” the deaths.
It’s difficult to watch that happen without experiencing a mix of disbelief and frustration. Dr. Debra Bogen, a pediatrician with over 30 years of clinical experience and Pennsylvania’s health secretary, was forced to issue a statement confirming that two people had indeed passed away. She explained that the term “measles-associated” is used by her department specifically because the virus may be clinically present and epidemiologically linked even though it is not always listed as the direct cause of death. Before going public, the department awaited confirmation of the investigations. It’s not evasion; that’s standard procedure.
Josh Shapiro, the governor, did not soften his stance. He confronted the misinformation head-on, pointing out that vaccination rates among Pennsylvania kindergartners have fallen from 95.5% ten years ago to 92.7% today—below the level required for herd immunity. “Spreading misinformation has real-life consequences,” he stated during a briefing. Although it wasn’t the most tactful framing, it was sincere.
The story that Pennsylvania’s case numbers convey doesn’t require much embellishment. There were only six measles cases reported in the state in 2024. Sixteen in 2025. With 94 new cases in the last seven days alone, the number has now surpassed 420 in less than a year in 2026. This week, Westmoreland and Butler counties both added new cases. Last week, Allegheny County reported its first case. There is no containment of the outbreak.
There have been no cases in Pennsylvania involving people who have received all recommended vaccinations. Sitting with that for a while is worthwhile. The vaccination is effective. Despite his long history of vaccine skepticism, the CDC, the state health department, and even Kennedy himself have urged people to get the measles vaccine. Measles is still spreading and vaccination rates are declining.
Observing all of this gives the impression that the nation has been here before, at least in spirit if not in detail. Public health has divided communities, officials are battling false information while attempting to handle a real crisis, and a disease that was cured by medicine decades ago is now demanding attention once more. Lancaster County is experiencing genuine grief. The baby who passed away was a child of someone. That is not altered by the political rhetoric surrounding these deaths, and it most likely shouldn’t be.
