Measles cases continue to climb in Pennsylvania outbreak, as other states report new cases
Meghan Holohan28 minutes ago.
Measles
Pennsylvania continues to see numbers climb in its ongoing measles outbreak, with 86 new cases added this week, which brings the total number of cases to 460 with 83 hospitalizations, according to an update today of the state’s measles dashboard. None of the cases have occurred in fully vaccinated people.
Measles continues to spread in Pennsylvania
Measles also moved into two new counties in Western Pennsylvania, Butler and Westmoreland, with each reporting one case.On August 25, the commonwealth announced two measles-associated deaths and the Pennsylvania Department of Health originally offered little information regarding these cases to protect patient privacy, according to CIDRAP News reporting. It was later revealed that one of the deaths was of a newborn but it’s unclear why the infant died. The Washington Post reports the pathologist who examined the infant does not believe the virus played a role in the death.
In his substack, Beyond the Noise, Paul Offit, MD, worries that the Pennsylvania outbreak, which is currently the nation’s most active, might be more widespread than realized. Measles generally has a mortality rate of one per 1,000 cases, but two deaths per 400 cases, which is a mortality rate of one per 200, “suggests that the outbreak is much worse than is claimed,” he wrote. “Many more people, possibly hundreds more, have been infected but not reported.”
At a press conference about the deaths, Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, pointed the finger at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the dwindling vaccination rates fueling this outbreak. But Kennedy accused Shapiro of making up the deaths to score political points in a social media post.
Utah cases remain steady, Georgia adds cases
For the third week in a row, Utah, which had the largest measles outbreak, reported no new cases. The state’s tally remains at 518.The Georgia Department of Health confirmed four cases of measles linked to a daycare in the Atlanta area, with cases occurring in children who were unvaccinated or had not received the full measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine series.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) typically update their measles numbers on Friday, a notification said the August 28, 2026, data have been delayed but will be updated as soon as possible. As of August 20, 2026, the CDC said there were 2,777 cases of measles in 47 states. Of those cases, 94% have been in unvaccinated individuals.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but the nation is expected to lose that status when the Pan American Health Organization reviews US measles transmission data later this year.