Technology and Science30 September, 20262 min read
Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak Tops 1,000 Cases, Health Officials Report
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Pennsylvania reports fifth measles-related death, an unvaccinated Lancaster County resident. The state confirms over 1,000 measles cases this year, largest outbreak in decades.
24 outlets told this the same way.
Pennsylvania passes 1,000
Pennsylvania health officials reported 1,078 measles cases in all of 2026 as of this afternoon, making the outbreak the largest the US has seen since measles was declared eliminated in 2000. The tally included 12 cases in January and March and 1,066 cases since April, when the current outbreak began, and it added that 145 cases were recorded in the last seven days. Pennsylvania had 1,004 cases, including 198 hospitalizations and five deaths, and it described the outbreak as the largest state outbreak in more than three decades.
Ars Technica reported that 207 hospitalizations and five deaths occurred in the state, and it said all of the deaths occurred during the current outbreak in people who were unvaccinated. Ars Technica also said the outbreak does not appear to be close to ending, with 34 new infections reported since Monday.
Vaccination, disaster orders
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state-wide disaster on October 5, and the executive order extended the pool of people who can administer measles vaccines to include paramedics, midwives and others. The executive order also allowed nurses to join doctors in ordering testing, and the state had more than 100 cases this year. Elimination is earned and maintained with vaccination rates that prevent continuous transmission of the virus during a 12-month period, and experts at the Pan American Health Organization will review data in November.
DW said the executive order in New York suspends regulations on administering vaccines, expands permission to paramedics and midwives, and allows nurses to order testing. DW quoted Hochul saying, "No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease," as she described the spread of a respiratory illness.
Deaths, pregnancy stakes
Pennsylvania confirmed a fifth measles-associated death this year, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health said an unvaccinated resident of Lancaster County who tested positive for measles had died.
Al Jazeera reported that the state had recorded 943 confirmed measles cases across 39 counties so far in 2026, including 40 new cases since September 28, and it said at least 176 people had been hospitalised.
The 19th News said the outbreak had infected at least 50 pregnant women in the state, and it reported that doctors were changing how they care for pregnant patients and their babies.
Dr. Sharee Livingston said, "Air doesn’t know that there’s a border between Pennsylvania and Ohio, or that there’s a border between New Jersey and New York," as she described the spread of a respiratory illness.
The 19th News also said doctors do not recommend that pregnant patients get the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine because it carries a live virus, making immunization prior to pregnancy critical.