The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed on Nov. 4 that an unvaccinated resident of Jefferson County died after testing positive for measles, marking the sixth confirmed measles-associated death in Pennsylvania.
The death has been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for federal review and added to the state’s measles dashboard, the department said.
So far in 2026, there have been 1,467 confirmed cases across the state’s 45 counties. Of those, a total of 283 patients were hospitalized. The six deaths involved residents from Jefferson (two), Lancaster (three), and Mifflin (one) counties.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it was also aware of the reported death of a Franklin County resident in October. As of Nov. 4, its investigation has not found any case there that meets its criteria for a measles-associated death.
A death must occur within 30 days of symptom onset in an individual with clinical evidence of measles and a positive laboratory test. It must not be due to unrelated causes.
Pennsylvania’s Franklin County coroner reported in October that the death of a 39-year-old woman met the state’s definition. The department has not accepted that determination. The sixth confirmed death announced Wednesday is a separate Jefferson County case.
The Franklin County coroner’s office said the woman had several underlying conditions, including a past diagnosis of measles with treatment. No other details were released. Privacy laws limit what can be shared, and families “deserve the dignity to mourn in private,” the coroner said at the time.
Officials reported three deaths in September, including an 18-year-old from Mifflin County, who died of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare neurological complication of measles, and a 40-year-old woman from Jefferson County, who died of complications. In late August, two infants from Lancaster County died after becoming infected.
Officials confirmed that the two women were unvaccinated and that the infants were too young for vaccinations under current recommendations.
Healthcare providers across the state have administered more than 61,000 doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR, vaccine in October, more than double a typical month, according to the state’s health department.
As of its Oct. 29 update, the CDC listed 4,852 confirmed measles cases in the United States this year and four deaths. That federal count is lower than Pennsylvania’s because the two use different standards.
The CDC counts a death as measles-related only when the National Center for Health Statistics lists the disease as the underlying cause on the death certificate. Pennsylvania counts a death as measles-associated if it occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in a person with a positive laboratory test, provided the death is not from an unrelated cause.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms typically begin with fever, cough, a runny nose, and red, watery eyes, followed several days later by a rash that starts on the face and spreads downward. The disease can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis.
