CDC, Pennsylvania’s growing feud over measles: 4 things to know

Pennsylvania health officials last week announced two unvaccinated people died from measles-associated conditions, including an infant.  

But the announcement was just the beginning of a growing political controversy that’s pitting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) against the state’s health department. 

The agency is publicly questioning Pennsylvania’s findings and has not yet counted the two in its national tally of measles deaths. 

Here are four things to know about the clash. 

Lack of details leads to confusion

Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health recorded the first measles deaths in 35 years. 

Both people were unvaccinated, they lived in Lancaster County and the state described the deaths as “measles-associated.” But that was all the information shared initially. 

When pressed for more details at a press conference, including for the ages of the victims, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and the state’s secretary of health Dr. Debra Bogen declined to elaborate, citing patient confidentiality. All they would say is the deaths were “measles-associated.” 

Shapiro, who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, said he had spoken to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and “made very clear that his actions and the rhetoric coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania.” 

The governor’s remarks set off a war of words between federal, state and local officials, including Kennedy, Shapiro, the Lancaster County coroner and county commissioners. 

Anti-vaccine activists and Trump administration officials questioned whether the people had died from measles, or whether they happened to have measles but died from something else.  

Some suggested health officials were using the phrase “measles-associated” to obfuscate the fact that the virus did not play a role in the reported deaths. 

“They cannot find any measles deaths in Lancaster County,” Kennedy said the next day during an event in Florida. “The press is all covering this as if those measles deaths actually happened, but nobody is doing a little bit of critical inquiry to find out. We’re trying to figure out who those deaths were and........

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