2 More Pennsylvanians Die With Measles, Reigniting Fight Between Rfk Jr. And Josh Shapiro

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two more “measles-associated” deaths, setting off another round of finger-pointing between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about a spiraling outbreak in the state.

The two deaths, reported in a Tuesday statement, bring Pennsylvania's death count to four. Before this year, Pennsylvania hadn’t reported a measles death for more than 30 years.

The health department reported two earlier deaths, both infants, in late August. A Lancaster County coroner said one of the infants died from a ruptured spleen, not measles, and Kennedy’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not listed any measles deaths for 2026 on its website.

Shapiro on Tuesday accused Kennedy of covering them up. “It is also deeply concerning to learn that the Secretary personally intervened in an otherwise administrative process to direct the CDC to not report these Pennsylvania deaths, presumably because it doesn’t fit his phony narrative,” he wrote on X.

The two deaths reported Tuesday by the Pennsylvania health department were consistent with earlier reports of two measles deaths in adults from coroners in Jefferson and Mifflin counties.

The outbreak has grown to nearly 700 cases across 38 counties.

Kennedy denied he was covering up the deaths in an X post on Tuesday and said Shapiro was allowing the outbreak to worsen by refusing assistance from the CDC that other states have accepted.

Since measles was identified in Texas in January of last year, cases have spread across the country with 48 states reporting cases, according to the CDC. The nearly 3,300 cases identified so far this year are the most since the early 1990s.

“Governor Shapiro’s claim that I directed CDC to suppress Pennsylvania deaths is false,” Kennedy wrote. “CDC is applying a consistent national standard rather than allowing politicians to decide which deaths appear in federal mortality statistics."

In the past, the CDC has deferred to states when deciding which deaths to include in the agency’s official measles death tally. The agency’s website says it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists — a nonprofit group representing epidemiologists nationwide — to develop a “standardized case definition for deaths due to measles.”

Shapiro has accused Kennedy — who founded an anti-vaccine nonprofit before becoming health secretary — of spreading misinformation about vaccines that has ultimately contributed to the epidemic, while Kennedy has accused Shapiro of trying to use measles deaths in his state to score political points.

In a statement shared with POLITICO Sunday, Neil Ruhland, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said the state has a “strong working relationship with the professional staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” which includes regular meetings, and “will continue to evaluate any additional CDC support as this outbreak continues.”