HARRISBURG, United States — Two unvaccinated people have died from measles in Pennsylvania, state health officials announced on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
The deaths are the first attributed to the disease in the United States this year.
Both people lived in Lancaster County, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Officials declined to release further information about them.
Pennsylvania had not recorded a measles death in 35 years.
“My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” Dr Debra Bogen, the state’s health secretary, said in a statement.
“As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles.”
Cases Rise Across Pennsylvania and the United States
Pennsylvania has confirmed 393 measles infections across 28 counties in 2026.
The deaths were announced as the United States confronted a second consecutive year of record measles activity.
More than 2,700 infections have been reported nationally this year, the highest annual total since 1991.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had received reports of 2,777 confirmed cases as of August 20. Of those infections, 2,614, or 94 per cent, were associated with outbreaks.
The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning the virus was no longer spreading continuously within the country.
More infections have been recorded during the past 18 months than in the preceding 25 years combined.
The continuing transmission has placed the country’s elimination status at risk. That status is recognised by the World Health Organization when a country has stopped regular domestic transmission of the virus.
How Measles Spreads
Measles is a highly contagious viral illness transmitted through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.
The virus can remain infectious in the air and on surfaces for as long as two hours after the infected person has left an area.
Symptoms generally begin seven to 21 days after exposure. Early signs include fever, coughing, a runny nose and red, watery eyes.
A rash typically appears several days later, beginning on the head before spreading down the body.
The illness can cause pneumonia, swelling of the brain and other serious short-term and long-term complications.
Deaths are uncommon but occur in about one to three of every 1,000 cases.
Health Officials Urge Vaccination
Two doses of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are 97 per cent effective at preventing measles.
Pennsylvania health officials have recommended early or catch-up MMR vaccination for people who are not fully protected, including doses for some children as young as six months.
“These deaths are entirely preventable,” said Dr Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an infectious disease physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The United States recorded its first measles deaths in decades in 2025. Those deaths included two unvaccinated children in Texas.
