Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has acknowledged that measles caused the death of a six-week-old infant in Pennsylvania, reversing his earlier suggestion that the state’s reported measles deaths may have been “fabricated,” after the county coroner formally concluded the virus was responsible.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has finally admitted that measles was the cause of an infant’s death in Pennsylvania, marking a significant reversal from his earlier public scepticism about the state’s reported measles fatalities. His acceptance follows a formal conclusion from Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni, who reversed his own earlier assessment to state definitively: “The child contracted measles, and measles caused the death of the child.” Pennsylvania is one of three states, alongside South Carolina and Utah, that have been hardest hit by measles this year, amid the largest national measles outbreak in three and a half decades.
The infant’s death
The infant was a six-week-old girl from Lancaster County’s Amish community, who died at home on 18 August after receiving palliative care shortly after birth. The child had Amish lethal microcephaly, a rare genetic neurological disorder associated with severe abnormalities in brain development, a condition that typically results in a very short life expectancy and left the infant particularly medically vulnerable.
Earlier reporting had established that the infant tested positive for measles before death, but subsequent reporting revealed the infection had actually been acquired before birth, with postmortem testing of lung tissue detecting the virus. The case became controversial after the coroner initially listed the infant’s immediate cause of death as a lacerated spleen, with measles appearing only as a significant contributing condition on the death documentation. The coroner has since revised this conclusion, determining instead that measles was the cause of death.
A dispute that escalated publicly
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two measles-associated deaths in the state last week, both involving unvaccinated individuals from Lancaster County. Announcing the deaths at a news conference on 25 August, Governor Josh Shapiro said: “Just this morning, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the first two measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years. Both of the individuals were from Lancaster County and both were unvaccinated. We hope and we pray that those deaths will be the last.”
Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic who has faced criticism for not doing more to prevent measles outbreaks, responded a day later by casting doubt on the announcement, writing on X: “The announcement appears to have been premature, and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor’s hopeful staffers.”
Kennedy’s reversal
Kennedy has now acknowledged that measles caused the infant’s death, saying his acceptance is based on the latest information provided by the Lancaster County coroner. However, he indicated that the federal government has not yet formally added the death to the CDC’s official measles mortality count, as federal reviews remain pending.
The dispute over the Pennsylvania deaths is partly rooted in a distinction between a “measles-associated” death and one in which measles is determined to be the underlying cause. Pennsylvania uses the former classification when evidence of measles is present, even where another immediate cause may also have been identified, a distinction that has complicated how the state’s figures align with federal reporting.
Despite the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s confirmation of two measles-associated deaths, the CDC has not yet added either death to its national measles mortality figures, with federal officials saying the cases remain under review. The dispute is no longer simply over whether the infant had measles; the Lancaster County coroner has now explicitly determined that measles caused the death, while the federal government continues reviewing whether and how the fatality should appear in official national statistics, reflecting the fact that state and federal systems are currently operating at different stages of death classification.
Scale of the outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 3,134 measles cases across the United States as of Thursday, including 557 in Pennsylvania, making 2026 the worst year for measles cases in the country in more than three decades. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has since reported an even higher figure, confirming 577 cases across 37 counties as of 4 September, up from 540 cases across 36 counties just two days earlier.
Since the outbreak began in late April, state health officials have administered more than 3,900 MMR vaccinations through more than 100 pop-up clinics established in affected communities. The department has stressed that the two-dose MMR vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles.
Ongoing political clash
Governor Shapiro and Kennedy have continued to clash publicly over the Pennsylvania deaths, with Shapiro accusing Kennedy of undermining public confidence in vaccination, and Kennedy arguing in turn that the governor had politicised the case. The latest coroner’s conclusion now provides Shapiro’s administration with an independent medical finding supporting its original assertion that at least one of the Pennsylvania deaths was directly caused by measles.
