Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have each announced one more measles-associated death, Al Jazeera said. That brings the US total this year to 10. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an infant's death on Friday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health said its latest death was an unvaccinated patient who had tested positive for measles.
Pennsylvania has now logged seven measles-associated deaths and Wisconsin two. On November 2, New York state said a child had died. It was the state's first recorded measles death in more than 30 years. As of Friday, Pennsylvania had 1,542 confirmed cases this year and Wisconsin 651.
Nationwide, more than 5,400 cases have been confirmed this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a Johns Hopkins University tracker. That is more than double the 2,289 cases confirmed in 2025. The CDC website lists only six measles-related deaths, fewer than the states report.
The gap stems from a dispute over how to count the deaths. According to Al Jazeera, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr asked CDC director Erica Schwartz to leave the deaths out of the official tally. He said there was no evidence they were linked to measles. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has clashed with Kennedy over the issue. Pennsylvania counts a death as measles-associated if a person with confirmed measles dies within 30 days of developing symptoms. The exception is a death caused by an unrelated event.
Epidemiologists told Al Jazeera that tracking measles-associated deaths has long been standard practice at the World Health Organization and the CDC. The CDC has said it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a standard definition of a measles death.
The US declared measles eliminated in 2000. Vaccination coverage among kindergarteners has dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in 2025-2026. Two doses of the MMR vaccine give about 97% protection. Local and state health departments have stepped up vaccination drives.
The US could lose its elimination status this week, Al Jazeera reported. Elimination means a country has stopped continuous transmission for at least 12 months. The Eastleigh Voice, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that the US would have to halt the ongoing spread to win the status back.