The Pennsylvania Department of Health on March 25 confirmed that two unvaccinated individuals died from measles, marking the first such deaths in the state in over three decades, where the disease had been eliminated.
Both patients were residents of Lancaster County. Authorities did not release further details due to privacy concerns.
“Because measles has been nearly eliminated in the state for more than 30 years, people are not familiar with the disease and do not fully understand its severity,” said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen.
The United States is facing its most serious measles outbreak in years, as vaccination rates drop below the threshold that health experts say is needed for herd immunity. The decline is partly driven by an anti-vaccine movement supported by senior officials in President Donald Trump's administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
So far this year, the U.S. has reported at least 2,777 measles cases. Pennsylvania is among the hardest-hit states, with 393 cases across 28 counties.
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order to reduce the number of recommended vaccines for children, furthering efforts to reverse decades of scientific consensus on vaccine safety and efficacy. Trump and Kennedy have also promoted false claims linking vaccines to autism and removed members of government health committees responsible for vaccine policy recommendations.
“We all thought the outbreak in Texas and last year's deaths would be a wake-up call. Then there were outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah,” Dr. Angela Dunn, former Utah state epidemiologist who led infectious disease response at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told Reuters.
In 2025, three people died in a measles outbreak that began in West Texas and spread to New Mexico.
