Internal CDC Database Still Logs Two Pennsylvania Measles Deaths After RFK Jr. Ordered Them Deleted From Public Count, Reports Say

Since Pennsylvania health officials reported two measles-associated deaths on August 25, the state's outbreak has grown to 540 cases, including 119 in the past week alone. The dispute over whether those two deaths should count in the CDC's official tally has now become a dispute over who is hiding what from the public.

Reuters reported that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally instructed new CDC director Erica Schwartz to delete the two deaths from the agency's public measles data. According to Reuters' sources, CDC staff had already reviewed the case information and accepted the characterization that both deaths were measles-related. Schwartz deleted them anyway, without objection, according to insiders who spoke to Reuters.

The Washington Post's Lena Sun and Rachel Roubein reported the same core fact independently, citing three current and former officials who said the exclusion decision came from Schwartz. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.

Separately, Inside Medicine reported that an internal CDC system called the "One CDC Data Platform" — accessible to state, local, and federal health staff — still lists both deaths, based on a screenshot that CDC staff reportedly verified. The same agency now publicly claiming it cannot confirm the deaths is privately still counting them.

HHS did not respond to Ars Technica's request for comment on that discrepancy. In an earlier statement, an HHS spokesperson told Ars Technica the deaths "have not been confirmed based on the information currently available to CDC," but did not say what information was missing or why the state's data was insufficient.

The Classification Fight

Pennsylvania calls the deaths "measles-associated," a specific term. A state health department spokesperson told the Epoch Times that means "laboratory or epidemiologic evidence of measles is present — in both cases there was a positive measles test — but the disease may not be assessed by the medical certifier or coroner to be the immediate cause of death."

Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni told the Philadelphia Inquirer the newborn died from a lacerated spleen and had tested positive for measles acquired before birth. He said his office was still investigating and wasn't aware of the second reported death. Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel noted measles can cause spleen enlargement and, rarely, rupture, and that newborns face heightened risk from the disease.

A legitimate question exists: does a positive measles test plus a fatal spleen injury count as a measles death, or a death that happened to occur alongside measles? Reasonable public health officials could disagree on that call, and CDC has previously deferred those determinations to state and local health departments.

Kennedy's own response, however, raises different issues. After Governor Josh Shapiro publicly blamed Kennedy's rhetoric for fueling the outbreak, Kennedy posted on X that Pennsylvania's announcement "appears to have been premature" and that the deaths "may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor's hopeful staffers." He offered no evidence for the fabrication claim. Pennsylvania's health department says it has given CDC everything required.

The Other Side of the Ledger

Breitbart's John Nolte argued Kennedy is being scapegoated, noting that vaccine mandates are set by states, not HHS, and that Kennedy has testified as secretary that vaccination is the best protection against measles while still defending informed consent for parents. Nolte also pointed to a genuine data point: U.S. measles cases hit roughly 2,300 in 2025, a 35-year high, up from 285 in 2024. This represents a real surge that predates some of Kennedy's most controversial public statements and reflects declining MMR vaccination rates nationally, not solely his tenure.

This context does not explain why an internal CDC database still counts two deaths that the agency's own public messaging says can't be confirmed, or why Kennedy called a state health department's data possibly "fabricated" without offering proof.

What's Unresolved

No formal investigation into the deletion has been announced. HHS has not said what specific information it believes is missing from Pennsylvania's submission, despite the state saying it provided everything required by law. The Lancaster County coroner's office confirmed to a local outlet it is investigating a report of a third child who died with measles, a case that has not yet been added to any tally, public or internal.