Two die from measles in Pennsylvania

Two people died in Pennsylvania from measles, the commonwealth’s health department said​ Tuesday. Both individuals were unvaccinated. These marked the first measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years, the department said. In the United States, they were the first deaths tied to the disease reported this year. The state department shared few details on the people who died, but noted that they were residents of Lancaster County.

The disease was largely eliminated in the commonwealth for more than three decades, said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen in a statement. She insisted the measles vaccine was safe and could protect against the disease. As of Monday, 393 cases were confirmed across the commonwealth, its health department said.

What do cases look like nationwide?

• Nearly 2,800 measles cases have been reported in the United States this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Thursday.

• There have been more cases in 2026 than any other year since 1991. This year’s numbers surpassed 2025’s milestone number of 2,289 confirmed cases.

• Three people died of measles in 2025, the CDC said.

• The disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, according to the CDC.

The CDC reported that two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, given around ages 1 and 5, were 97% effective at preventing the disease.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s report on the CDC’s report on the drop in American kindergartners’ vaccination rates.