US Measles Deaths Reach 10 in 2026 as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Add One Each
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each reported one more measles-associated death, bringing the US total for 2026 to 10. Health officials in both states logged the latest cases as a dispute over how the CDC counts deaths continues and the country's elimination status is in doubt.
US measles-associated deaths reach 10 for 2026 after Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each announced one additional death on Friday, November 13, according to the two states' health departments.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported the death of an infant. The Pennsylvania Department of Health said its latest death was an unvaccinated patient who had tested positive for measles.
Pennsylvania has now logged seven measles-associated deaths and Wisconsin two. On November 2, New York state said a child had died, its first recorded measles death in more than 30 years.
Federal count lags state figures
More than 5,400 confirmed cases have been recorded nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker. That is more than double the 2,289 cases confirmed in 2025.
The CDC's own website lists six measles-related deaths, twice its 2025 figure but below the state tallies. The agency did not say which states those six came from.
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr asked CDC director Erica Schwartz not to count some Pennsylvania deaths, claiming there was no evidence they were measles-associated. The CDC then changed its data source for measles deaths, a change noted on its website on September 4.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kennedy are at odds over how deaths are classified. Pennsylvania reports a death as measles-associated when a person with confirmed measles dies within 30 days of developing symptoms, unless an unrelated event caused it.
Epidemiologists say the "measles-associated" standard has long been used by the World Health Organization and the CDC. The CDC said it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a standardized definition.
Elimination status in doubt
As of Friday, Pennsylvania had logged 1,542 confirmed cases this year and Wisconsin 651. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000.
A committee appointed by the Pan American Health Organization, an arm of the World Health Organization, met behind closed doors this week to assess whether measles has spread locally in the US for at least a year. A source has said the country has already lost its status, though no formal announcement has been reported.
Kindergarten vaccination coverage fell from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4 percent in 2025-2026. Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer about 97 percent protection.
"It's really tragic and unnecessary, and it's all completely preventable," said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stanford University. Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, said regaining elimination status "is going to be harder for us than it was the first time."
