Pennsylvania reported nearly 1,400 measles cases this year as the U.S. total passed 4,500, while national kindergarten vaccination coverage remained below its 2019-20 level.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health counted 1,398 confirmed cases in 44 counties through Oct. 28, along with 265 hospitalizations and five deaths classified as measles-associated. The update added 38 cases since Oct. 26; four cases were among vaccinated people, less than 1% of the state total.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 4,588 confirmed U.S. cases through Oct. 22, more than double the 2,289 reported for all of 2025. The agency says the 2026 figure is preliminary. Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, after at least 12 months without continuous domestic transmission.
Lancaster County accounted for more than a third of Pennsylvania’s cases, and three of the five deaths in the state tally occurred there, the Associated Press reported. AP described the county as home to the largest Amish population in the United States. Its interviews found varied views on vaccination among Amish and conservative Mennonite communities; community leaders and researchers pointed to routines and local customs as common reasons for lower uptake, rather than religious doctrine.
Pennsylvania counts a death as measles-associated when it occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in a person with an active measles case, clinical evidence and a positive laboratory test, after unrelated causes are excluded. The CDC’s Oct. 23 data page listed three U.S. measles deaths for 2026 and said the figure may change. The CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists are developing common criteria for classifying deaths caused by measles.
Pennsylvania said more than 150,000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses had been administered statewide since Aug. 1, including more than 50,000 in October as of its latest update. Additional clinics are planned in the coming weeks and months, without announced dates. The CDC reported that kindergarten MMR coverage was 92.4% in the 2025-26 school year, down from 95.2% in 2019-20, and about 280,000 kindergartners lacked documentation of completing the MMR series.
