Two unvaccinated people died of measles in Pennsylvania, marking the first such deaths in the state in 35 years. The deaths were reported amid an outbreak that has reached 393 confirmed cases in Pennsylvania, with national measles infections in 2026 rising higher than any point in the past 35 years, and came shortly after Maryland declared a measles outbreak in three counties. Governor Shapiro criticized RFK Jr.'s comments on vaccines in connection with the outbreak.
NBC News and The Guardian similarly report the deaths as the first in Pennsylvania in 35 years, with NBC emphasizing local hospital/outbreak details, Kennedy's history of anti-vaccine rhetoric in Lancaster County specifically, hospitalization figures, and rising vaccine exemption rates, framing the story with a stronger local public-health accountability angle.
BBC News reports the two Pennsylvania measles deaths factually, emphasizing national case counts, declining vaccination rates, Trump's executive order and RFK Jr.'s mixed vaccine messaging, and Shapiro's rebuke of Kennedy, framing the story around policy consequences and the risk of losing US measles elimination status.
