PA Measles Cases Near 500 With 2 Deaths, and These Areas Have the Most

Just days after Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clashed over the handling of two measles-associated deaths in the state, infections within Pennsylvania were on their way to hitting 500.

Where Pennsylvania’s Measles Cases Are Concentrated

Most cases were concentrated in Lancaster County, according to the state’s measles dashboard, where the state department of health confirmed two measles-associated deaths on Aug. 25, the first U.S. deaths from the disease this year. The term is used when there is laboratory or epidemiological evidence of the disease, even if a medical certifier or coroner does not say that the disease was the immediate cause of death.

While cases climbed near Pittsburgh earlier in the week, with Butler and Westmoreland reporting their first measles infections, no additional cases in the counties bordering Allegheny were added to the count on Aug. 28. But data on the state’s dashboard doesn’t always reflect real-time reporting, as Butler’s case, which was diagnosed on Aug. 25, still didn’t appear on the dashboard as of Aug. 28.

Here’s what to know about measles infections in Pennsylvania.

How many measles cases are there in Pennsylvania?

There were 460 confirmed measles cases throughout Pennsylvania as of Aug. 28. Of those, 86 new cases were reported in the last week.

The majority of measles cases were in Lancaster County, which reported 210 infections. Mifflin and Chester counties were tied with the second most cases, with both counties reporting 43 infections.

Does Pittsburgh have any measles cases?

As of Aug. 28, there were no confirmed measles cases in Pittsburgh or Allegheny County. However, Allegheny County officials warned that residents may have been exposed to the disease on Aug. 12 and Aug. 18 when an out-of-county individual who was diagnosed with measles visited UPMC Children’s Hospital Emergency Department.

The county health department said the individual was isolating and that officials were reaching out to anyone who had been exposed. Measles symptoms typically emerge 7–14 days after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One case of measles was diagnosed in Butler County on Aug. 25, according to Dr. Michael Fiorina, chief medical officer at Independence Health System, the same day that one case in Westmoreland County appeared on the state’s measles dashboard.

Hospitalizations, Deaths and Vaccinations

Here’s a look at how measles is impacting those sickened by it in Pennsylvania, as well as how people are protecting themselves against it:

• Hospitalizations: 83 (18% of all cases)
• Children under 18 hospitalized: 24 (16% of cases among age group)
• Adults 18 and up hospitalized: 59 (19% of cases among age group)
• Deaths: 2
• Measles vaccines administered in 2026 by state DOH: 5,096

No infections had occurred in anyone who was fully vaccinated, meaning they had received two MMR shots, as of Aug. 28.

Community transmission was taking place in Berks, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Indiana, Jefferson, Lancaster, Mifflin, Snyder and York counties as of Aug. 28.

Did two people die from measles in Pennsylvania?

On Aug. 25, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced two measles-associated deaths. The two individuals who died, one a newborn infant, were from Lancaster County, they said. Neither were vaccinated.

In multiple posts on X, HHS Secretary Kennedy lambasted Shapiro for his handling of the situation, questioning whether the deaths were “fabricated” and sharing debunked information about the MMR vaccine.

Questions were raised over the infant, whose cause of death was listed as a ruptured spleen, prompting the state department of health to clarify that even if measles is not listed as the cause of death on a death certificate, a death will still be counted as measles-associated if laboratory or epidemiological evidence of the disease is present.

Additionally, Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that infants can catch measles after birth or be born with it if their mother is sick and develops a rash within 10 days of giving birth. Measles, he said, can cause an enlarged spleen, and birth can cause it to rupture.

Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact information and social-media handles have been omitted.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY. Reporting by Finch Walker, USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.