U.S. Measles Deaths Reach 10 by State Count After Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Reports; CDC Confirms Six

The state-reported measles death toll for 2026 has climbed to 10. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each announced one new death on Friday, Nov. 13, just as a Pan American Health Organization review of U.S. measles elimination status nears its conclusion.

The CDC has not caught up. Its confirmed count is six.

The two new deaths

Pennsylvania's Department of Health said the latest victim was an unvaccinated resident of Montour County who had tested positive for measles. The department did not release the person's age or other identifying details. It is the seventh measles-associated death in the state this year.

Wisconsin's Department of Health Services reported the death of a child and declined to give the age, location or vaccination status, citing the family's privacy. It is the state's second measles death this year.

The first, an infant in southwestern Wisconsin, was announced Thursday, Nov. 12, and was the state's first measles death since 1990. The coroner listed measles as the immediate cause. "Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease," said Kirsten Johnson, secretary of the state health department.

New York has recorded one death, a child in Lewis County, the state's first in more than 30 years.

Why the counts differ

The gap between 10 and six comes from definitions, not a dispute over whether the children and adults died.

Pennsylvania counts a death as measles-associated if it occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in a person with clinical evidence of measles and a positive lab test, and is not due to unrelated causes. The CDC counts a death only when the National Center for Health Statistics lists measles as the underlying cause on the death certificate.

The Pennsylvania health department has also looked at a reported October death of a Franklin County woman. As of Nov. 4, it said its investigation had found no case meeting its criteria. The county coroner said she had several underlying conditions.

The CDC logged three measles deaths last year. Pennsylvania's earlier deaths came from Jefferson (two), Lancaster (three) and Mifflin (one) counties, according to the state health department. Officials confirmed that two of the victims were unvaccinated women and that the infants were too young to be vaccinated under current recommendations. At least four deaths this year were in babies too young to be vaccinated.

Cases and vaccination rates

The CDC had confirmed 5,412 U.S. cases as of Nov. 12, the highest in decades. About 97% were in unvaccinated people. On Oct. 29, the CDC's count was 4,852.

Pennsylvania leads the country with 1,542 cases. Wisconsin has reported 649 cases across 20 counties since August, its largest outbreak in more than 35 years. New York has 210 cases.

The CDC reported that 92.4% of 2025-26 kindergarteners had their required MMR shots. Before the COVID pandemic, the figure was 95%, the level needed to prevent outbreaks. Pennsylvania said providers gave more than 61,000 MMR doses in October, more than double a typical month. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are recommending an early dose for infants ages 6 to 11 months who live in areas with high case counts.

Federal policy and the vaccine debate

The federal response is entangled with the politics of the health secretary. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a leading anti-vaccine activist before taking the job. The CDC has cited safety concerns in recommending separate MMR and varicella shots. The Trump administration has also proposed splitting the MMR vaccine into three individual shots, a recommendation that if implemented would almost certainly further decrease already-slipping U.S. vaccination rates, according to MedPage Today.

HHS has told Fox News Digital that "Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz continue to make clear that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles."

What comes next

The Pan American Health Organization met this week to determine whether the U.S. can still be considered measles-free. The central question is whether measles has spread continuously in the U.S. for a full 12 months. Canada lost its elimination status last year after the agency found the virus had circulated there for at least that long. The U.S. attained elimination in 2000.

NBC News reported that PAHO's decision is expected to be announced Tuesday. As of today, neither PAHO nor the CDC has announced a ruling.

Pennsylvania's department said it has reported each death to the CDC for federal review.