New measles deaths push US death toll to highest in decades

Health officials in Pennsylvania have confirmed two more measles-related deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in the state this year to four and the US death toll to its highest level in a decade.

Both individuals were unvaccinated, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said in a statement Tuesday. One lived in Jefferson County, the other lived in Mifflin County. Other identifying information will not be released, the department said.

The deaths mark a grim milestone in the comeback of a disease the US once largely thought had been defeated. Pennsylvania had not had a measles-related death in 35 years before this summer; it has now reported four in a matter of weeks as the state’s outbreak swells to nearly 700 cases.

More than 130 people have been hospitalized in Pennsylvania, almost all of them unvaccinated. The rising toll underscores how quickly measles can take hold when vaccination rates drop, a reality currently playing out in nearly every state. By July of this year, measles cases in the U.S. surpassed the total number of infections for the entire year of 2025.

In 2025, the US recorded three measles deaths; the previous death from the virus in the country was in 2015. During a severe epidemic from 1989 to 1991, there were 166 suspected measles deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A CDC spokesman said Pennsylvania health officials notified the agency of two additional deaths of people who had measles. The CDC remains in contact with state health officials as they continue to evaluate these deaths, the spokesman said, and will send epidemiologists to provide on-site support if requested by the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health emphasized that complete vaccination with a two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is the best form of protection against the highly contagious virus. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people who come into contact with the virus that causes measles will become infected. This can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.

The epidemic is growing in the context of an overhaul of the country’s vaccination policy under the leadership of US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A longtime vaccine critic, Kennedy pushed for unproven drugs and at one point said the measles vaccine should be a “personal choice.” He also promoted false information about the shots, including that they contained fetal tissue.

After Pennsylvania reported its first deaths to the CDC in August, Kennedy publicly disputed them, suggesting that Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office had fabricated the deaths for political gain. Shapiro accused Kennedy of sowing mistrust of vaccines.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order recommending that the MMR vaccine be split into three doses, which would be costly and complicated for manufacturers and require more clinic visits.

Some health officials and nominees have tried to overrule the health minister’s views on vaccines. On Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for second in command at the Department of Health and Human Services fully endorsed the measles vaccine during a Senate hearing.

“The MMR vaccine is undoubtedly the single most effective public health tool we have against measles,” Chris Klomp, currently HHS’s senior adviser, told senators.

With help from Rachel Cohrs Zhang.

This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.