Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak Brings Rare Cases to Hospitals

PENNSYLVANIA’S measles outbreak is growing, while four state-reported deaths remain absent from the federal count.

The state had reported 731 cases and four measles-associated deaths at the time of the source report. Yet an update to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dashboard did not include those deaths. The difference has drawn scrutiny as clinicians report a rising caseload and uncommon presentations.

Why Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Are Missing From the Federal Count

The CDC is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a definition of measles death. Until that definition is established, the agency says it is using National Center for Health Statistics data, which identify measles as an underlying cause from death records submitted by states.

Pennsylvania has investigated and reported four measles-associated deaths. Debra Houry, a former CDC chief medical officer, said records for the first two should already have reached the federal agency after the state completed its investigations. The source report did not establish why the deaths remained absent from the federal tally.

Differences between state and federal counts may complicate assessment of the outbreak’s severity. Clinicians also suspect that the reported case total misses people who become ill at home without being tested. Untested infections can impede contact tracing and leave patients unaware that they need to isolate.

Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak Reaches Newborn Care

John Goldman, an infectious disease specialist treating patients in Pennsylvania, said he is now seeing at least one measles case daily after decades without encountering one. Clinicians have also treated congenital measles in newborns who acquired infection in utero or at birth. Goldman described this presentation as unusually rare and said information about its course is limited.

A possible measles exposure was reported in a Philadelphia neonatal intensive care unit. For healthcare teams, the combination of hospital exposures and potentially unrecognized infections underscores the need to identify suspected cases and coordinate promptly with public health officials.

Pennsylvania has established more than 100 temporary vaccination clinics and requested additional vaccination support from the CDC. Goldman said the state has also provided testing with a 24-hour turnaround. Despite that capacity, people who remain sick at home without seeking care may still escape the official case count. As transmission continues, clinicians are preparing for further cases and deaths.

Reference
Schreiber M. Why the CDC is excluding measles deaths in Pennsylvania even as outbreak appears to be ‘accelerating’. 22 September 2026. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/22/cdc-pennsylvania-measles-death-outbreak. Last accessed: 24 September 2026.

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