Two people have died from measles in the United States, the first fatalities from the highly contagious disease reported nationwide this year.
Health officials said both deaths occurred in Pennsylvania among patients who were unvaccinated. They are the first measles-related deaths recorded in the state in 35 years.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed that both individuals lived in Lancaster County, roughly 60 miles from Philadelphia. Authorities did not release further information about the patients.
‘My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,’ Dr Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, said in a statement.
‘Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness.’
Pennsylvania has reported 393 measles infections across 28 counties so far in 2026, while other states, including Maryland and Iowa, are also dealing with recent outbreaks.
Across the country, measles cases have climbed to their highest level in more than 30 years.
As of August 20, the CDC had confirmed 2,777 measles cases nationwide, the largest total since 1991, when 9,643 cases were recorded.
Officials reported the two deaths occurred in unvaccinated patients in Pennsylvania (stock image)
Last year, there were 2,289 cases, according to the CDC.
The vast majority of cases in both 2025 and 2026 were in individuals who had not received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The shot is typically given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six. Two doses slash the risk of measles infection by 97 percent, according to the CDC.
For unvaccinated people, nine in ten of those exposed to the virus will get infected.
‘We want to ensure every Pennsylvanian has the information they need to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities,’ Bogen said.
‘As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles.’
Along with Pennsylvania, health officials in Maryland have declared a measles outbreak in three counties presenting 14 new cases in unvaccinated residents.
That brings the state’s total for 2026 to 31. Of those, 27 were in unvaccinated residents.
In Iowa, 17 cases have been reported, the state’s health department announced Monday.
Measles, which is highly infectious, is characterized by cough, fever, a distinctive blotchy rash that starts on the face before spreading down the body and tiny white spots inside the mouth called Koplik spots.
The virus spreads through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air. Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears. Enclosed areas like airports and planes are extremely risky locations for disease transmission.
It first invades the respiratory system, then spreads to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As a result, the virus can affect the lungs, brain and central nervous system.
While measles sometimes causes milder symptoms, including diarrhea, sore throat and achiness, it leads to pneumonia in roughly six percent of otherwise healthy children, and more often in malnourished children.
The above CDC map shows measles cases for 2026 by state, as of August 20
Though the brain swelling that measles can trigger is rare, occurring in about one in 1,000 cases, it is deadly in roughly 15 to 20 percent of those who develop it, while about 20 percent are left with permanent neurological damage, such as brain damage, deafness or intellectual disability.
Measles also severely damages a child’s immune system, making them susceptible to other potentially devastating bacterial and viral infections they were previously protected against.
Before MMR vaccines became available in the 1960s, measles caused epidemics with up to 2.6 million global deaths every year. By 2023, that number had fallen to roughly 107,000 deaths.
Nationwide, 92.4 percent of kindergarteners are fully vaccinated against measles, below the CDC’s 95 percent threshold for herd immunity. In Pennsylvania, the MMR vaccination rate is 94.6, while rates in Maryland and Iowa are 96 and 90 percent, respectively.
Exemptions are also on the rise at 4.2 percent, up 17 percent from 1.6 percent just over a decade ago.
