Measles Deaths Shatter 35-Year Streak

A stamp marking 'MEASLES ALERT' on a piece of paper next to a stethoscope and keyboard — 35-YEAR STREAK SHATTERED

Two unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have died from measles, the state’s first deaths from the disease in 35 years.

Story Snapshot

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two measles deaths on August 25, both unvaccinated Lancaster County residents.
These mark the first measles deaths reported anywhere in the United States in 2026.
Pennsylvania has logged 393 measles cases across 28 counties so far this year, the highest count since 1991.
State officials have not released any further personal details about the victims, citing privacy concerns.

Two Deaths End A 35-Year Streak Without Measles Fatalities

Pennsylvania health officials announced that two residents died from measles, ending a 35-year run with no deaths from the disease in the state.

Both victims lived in Lancaster County and had not been vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The agency confirmed the deaths but withheld additional details such as age or exact cause of complications, citing privacy protections for the families involved.

Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said. Both were unvaccinated.

These are the first deaths related to measles within the state in 35 years and the first deaths reported this year in the U.S.

Read more: https://t.co/Vs2KNDIxWt pic.twitter.com/YnxDa1kyko

— ABC News (@ABC) August 25, 2026

These are also the first measles deaths recorded anywhere in the United States this year. That single fact carries weight. Measles had become so rare in this country that a fatal case felt almost unthinkable to most families.

Now it has happened twice in one Pennsylvania county, both times in people who had no vaccine protection against a virus doctors have understood for decades.

A State Outbreak That Has Been Building For Months

The deaths did not come out of nowhere. Pennsylvania has reported 393 measles cases across 28 counties in 2026, the state’s highest total since 1991.

Lancaster and Lebanon counties have carried the heaviest share of that outbreak, with the state health department responding to new exposure sites there as recently as mid-August. Case counts had already climbed steadily through spring and summer before the first fatalities were confirmed.

Earlier state data collected during the outbreak found that almost none of the confirmed cases involved fully vaccinated people. As of early August, health officials reported that none of 232 confirmed patients statewide had been fully vaccinated against measles, and 38 people had already needed hospital care.

That pattern held even before anyone died, and it lines up with decades of public health evidence that the measles vaccine is highly effective at preventing serious illness.

How Pennsylvania Compares To The Rest Of The Country

Nationally, measles cases have been climbing after years of near-elimination in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had counted 2,777 confirmed cases across the country as of August 20, 2026, with zero deaths reported nationwide before the Pennsylvania announcement.

Last year, three people died from measles in the United States, including two children, according to public health tracking. Two deaths in one county now match a meaningful share of that recent national toll.

Measles is not a mild childhood nuisance. The World Health Organization notes that even in 2024, an estimated 95,000 people died from measles worldwide, mostly unvaccinated children.

Complications can include pneumonia and swelling of the brain, both of which can turn fatal quickly once an infection takes hold in someone with no immune protection.

What State Officials Are Doing Now

The Shapiro administration has already taken steps this year to slow the outbreak’s spread, including tracking exposure sites and urging residents in affected counties to check their vaccination status.

Health officials in Lancaster and Lebanon counties have repeatedly pointed out that the overwhelming majority of infected residents were unvaccinated, a detail the department has emphasized again following these two deaths.

For parents weighing vaccine decisions, the math here is stark and simple. A disease that Pennsylvania had not seen kill anyone in 35 years has now killed two people in one outbreak, and both were unvaccinated. Public health officials will keep pointing to that fact, and it is hard to argue with the pattern the state’s own data shows.