LANCASTER COUNTY — Both individuals who died were unvaccinated and lived in Lancaster County. Seventy people in Pennsylvania have been hospitalized for measles complications during the current outbreak. Eighty-six measles cases were diagnosed in the state in the week prior to August 25, 2026.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Debra Bogen addressed the severity of the situation in an official statement. "Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness," Bogen said. She emphasized the medical consensus on immunization. "As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles," she added.

The surge in Pennsylvania coincides with a national increase in cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,777 measles cases nationwide in 2026. This figure represents the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. in 35 years. As of August 20, 2026, 193 people with measles, representing about 7% of cases, had been hospitalized nationwide.

Vaccination rates have declined in the region most affected by the outbreak. The percentage of children receiving the MMR vaccine in Lancaster County decreased from 95.5% in 2017 to a lower rate in 2025. During the 2025-26 school year, 4.2% of kindergartners, approximately 155,000 children, had at least one vaccine exemption. The kindergarten vaccine exemption rate was 3.6% during the previous school year.

Federal policy changes have intersected with the public health response. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier in August 2026 intended to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children. On August 10, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the MMR vaccine to be split up by disease into separate shots. Following the executive order, Pennsylvania affirmed plans to keep preexisting vaccine guidance rather than adopt the new recommendation to split the MMR vaccine.

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in two doses, typically around age 1 and age 5. Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer 97% protection against measles, usually for life. These are the first measles deaths in the United States this year.

In 2025, three people died of measles in the United States. One adult in New Mexico and two young girls in Texas died of measles last year.

Why It Matters

The 2,777 measles cases reported in 2026 represent the highest number in the U.S. in 35 years. Research titled "Measles Outbreak in a Boarding School—Pennsylvania, 2003" was published in 2004 in JAMA. Research titled "Hospital-Associated Measles Outbreak—Pennsylvania, March—April 2009" was published in 2012 in JAMA.

Lancaster County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. The decline in vaccination coverage in this county correlates with the concentration of cases. The state's decision to maintain existing guidelines contrasts with the federal directive to separate the combined vaccine. The lack of domestic manufacturers for individual measles, mumps, or rubella vaccines presents a logistical barrier to implementing the federal order.

Timeline

Three people died of measles in the United States last year. President Trump signed an executive order on August 10, 2026, calling for the MMR vaccine to be split up by disease into separate shots.

"As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles." As of August 25, 2026, 393 measles cases had been confirmed in Pennsylvania. These are the first measles deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years.

What's New

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed the executive order on vaccine recommendations.

Acting on the executive order to split the MMR vaccine is currently unfeasible because no manufacturers in the U.S. make monovalent vaccines individually targeting measles, mumps, or rubella.

How Sources Differ

That acting on the executive order to split the MMR vaccine is currently unfeasible because no manufacturers in the U.S. make monovalent vaccines individually targeting measles, mumps, or rubella.