A sixth death has been announced in Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak, as new figures show cases in the state surpassed 1,100.
The most recent death was reported Monday in Franklin County in a statement posted on Facebook by its coroner. The victim was identified as a 39-year-old woman who “suffered from multiple underlying conditions, including a previous diagnosis of measles and treatment.”
Coroner James Conner said it was the first measles-related death in the county “in many years” — and that the patient’s recent diagnosis met the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s definition of inclusion.
Five more people have died after contracting measles since August in Pennsylvania, where state officials said Monday they have recorded 1,137 cases and 219 hospitalizations. The outbreak began in West Philadelphia in April, with officials blaming low vaccination rates.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, continues to count two deaths nationwide, amid a dispute between Trump administration Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro over the methodology for classifying measles-related deaths.
The CDC website, last updated Friday, reports 4,080 confirmed measles infections across the United States in 42 separate outbreaks, the highest numbers in decades, and almost double the number of cases for all of 2025.
Earlier in October, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency due to rising cases in her state; while Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Utah also saw significant increases.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health told NBC News on Monday that it was aware of the Franklin County death — and was “conducting a thorough review of the reported death.”
The coroner’s office told the outlet, through a spokesperson, that the woman’s “primary cause of death was a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of measles.” The coroner’s office spokesperson said the woman was not vaccinated.
Conner’s statement did not identify the woman to protect the privacy of the victim and her loved ones. “Families deserve the dignity of grieving in private,” the statement said.
“We strongly encourage our medical community, first responders and the public to follow the precautions outlined in the State of Pennsylvania guidelines.
These national guidelines recommend two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine or a combined MMRV vaccine that includes protection against varicella (chickenpox) for children 12 years and older.
The CDC website recommends the same vaccinations, but Kennedy — a longtime vaccine skeptic — offered conflicting messages. In March 2025, he questioned the effectiveness of the measles vaccine, saying people should be able to “make that choice for themselves” about whether to take it or not.
And in September, he told anti-vaccine activists at a conference in Washington DC that they had “a strong and loyal friend in the White House”, a month after telling American families, in response to rising measles cases nationwide, that parents “should get their children vaccinated”.
Pennsylvania’s outbreak recorded 157 new cases over the past week, according to state figures, and a third of the total infections are among people 18 or younger. Less than 1% of cases occurred in fully vaccinated people.
The first two deaths, reported in August, involved infants, one whose mother had measles during pregnancy, and the second, a six-week-old child who also suffered from a rare genetic disease.
The other Pennsylvania victims were women aged 40 and 20 and an 18-year-old, all of whom had coexisting health conditions.
Gn Health
