Two more people have died in Pennsylvania’s growing measles outbreak, bringing the total number of measles-related deaths to four — but, a public federal dashboard still shows no measles deaths so far this year.
When asked if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will record the two new deaths on its measles dashboard, a spokesperson said in an email to WPSU that the agency is in touch with state officials about the deaths and has offered to provide on-the-ground help with the outbreak.
Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke Wednesday night on CNN’s “The Source,” and called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update their public dashboard before Pennsylvania accepts federal help.
“I'm not going to accept that until RFK does what is right and stops reaching down into his administration and directing the CDC staff not to acknowledge the pain and suffering of these four families in Pennsylvania and acknowledge those deaths," Shapiro said.
Shapiro said in a social media post Tuesday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "personally intervened in an otherwise administrative process to direct the CDC to not report these Pennsylvania deaths."
Kennedy denied that claim and said the CDC is using its own standard for what counts as "measles-caused deaths."
In late August, the state announced its first two measles-associated deaths. At the time, Kennedy questioned whether the deaths actually happened.
Lancaster County’s coroner later confirmed both deaths, and said they involved infants who had measles.
Vaccine misinformation complicates outbreak
This week, Shapiro said vaccine skepticism and misinformation coming from the Trump administration is making the situation in Pennsylvania worse.
Doctors on the ground say they're trying to share information and host vaccine clinics.
“I'd like to think that just telling them about the facts of the matter is what will do it, but that does not necessarily seem to be the case always," said Dr. Stanley Martin, the director of infectious diseases at Geisinger.
Martin said many vulnerable people used to be protected by herd immunity.
“Now we see with the vaccination rates dropping, that those chinks in the armor are occurring, and it’s people who are susceptible, of course, suffering the consequences," Martin said.
Martin said this is the first time in his career he's seen measles. The disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, according to the CDC.
"In fact, as a medical student in the late 1990s, I distinctly recall some of my professors saying, 'You know, you're probably never going to see this, but you should probably learn about measles.' You know, but here I am," Martin said.
So far this year, there are 731 measles cases reported throughout Pennsylvania, making it one of the biggest outbreaks in the United States, and the numbers are still going up.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Department of Health says it has administered nearly 7,000 MMR vaccines so far this year, with more than a thousand given this month alone.
A version of this story appeared on NPR's Morning Edition on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.
