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[UPDATE] US measles cases reach 4,080 this year, the most since 1991, with Pennsylvania at 1,105

Pennsylvania reports five measles deaths; the CDC recognizes two of them.

The CDC counted 4,080 US measles cases this year as of Thursday, Oct. 8, including 192 new cases in the past week. That is the highest yearly total since 1991, when the country recorded 9,643. Pennsylvania is the center of the outbreak, with 1,105 of the 4,080 national cases. The state reports five measles deaths, but the CDC's count includes only two of them.

PREVIOUSLY

On Oct. 7, Kathy Hochul (Gov-D New York) declared a measles disaster emergency as the outbreak in neighboring Pennsylvania passed 1,000 cases.

Why Pennsylvania counts five deaths this year and the CDC two:

  • Pennsylvania counts a death when a patient with a positive lab test dies within 30 days of symptoms and no unrelated cause explains it.
  • Since September 2026, the CDC counts only deaths its statistics center verifies as caused by measles on state death records.
  • Lancaster County's coroner said one infected newborn died of a lacerated spleen; Pennsylvania still counts that death.