The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed the state’s fifth measles-associated death of 2026 on Wednesday. It is also the third measles-associated death in Lancaster County.
The department said this person, like all other reported measles-associated deaths this year, was not vaccinated against the virus. Details are sparse, with DOH saying it will not release any additional details that could personally identify them “to protect the privacy of the individual and their family.”
Department of Health Press Secretary Neil Ruhland said he could not give any further information about the person’s age or if they had underlying health conditions.
Two Lancaster County infants died in August while infected with measles, with conflicting statements from the county coroner, the state and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the role the virus played, WITF previously reported. Lancaster’s coroner later released details confirming one of the deaths was caused by the virus.
The two other deaths were in Mifflin and Jefferson counties.
There are now nearly 950 total measles cases in Pennsylvania across 39 counties. Only four of those cases were among individuals vaccinated against the illness.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Pennsylvania leads the country in measles cases. The map, last updated Sept. 24, shows South Carolina with the next-largest outbreak, with 670 cases.
Measles was nearly nonexistent in Pennsylvania for more than 30 years, but lower rates of vaccination opened the door to a new health crisis that is especially dangerous to young children, pregnant women and the elderly.
Vaccination is the best way to stop the illness from spreading, Ruhland said Wednesday afternoon. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective at preventing the illness.
