Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The deaths, both involving unvaccinated individuals, were confirmed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health this week, though the agency declined to provide further details, citing patient privacy. The situation has intensified into a war of words between the state and federal government, complicating the response to a state-wide surge of 460 measles infections, including 36 cases reported in just the last two days.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s accusations of vaccine rhetoric
During a news conference on Tuesday, Governor Shapiro, a Democrat, accused Secretary Kennedy of sowing confusion about vaccines and contributing to the resurgence of a disease the United States had eliminated more than a quarter-century ago. Shapiro stated that he had a heated call with Kennedy prior to the briefing, during which he told the secretary that the state did not want additional help from the federal government. Shapiro stated that he had made it very clear that the actions of the secretary and the rhetoric from the current administration were negatively impacting communities across America, and in particular, right here in Pennsylvania. He further emphasized that the deaths could have been averted through vaccination, stating that there were real-life consequences to frightening people instead of relying on actual doctors and medical professionals to provide unbiased information.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Lancaster County
Secretary Kennedy, an appointee of President Trump who previously headed the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, responded on social media by accusing Shapiro of weaponization of infectious disease
for political gain. Kennedy suggested that the deaths in Lancaster County may have been altogether fabricated
by one of Shapiro’s hopeful staffers
to support a narrative that measles is more dangerous than it actually is. Kennedy further claimed that the coroner in Lancaster County had no record of any measles-related deaths.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen pushed back against these claims, noting that she had thoroughly reviewed the case investigation
and stated with regret that she could confirm that there had been two recent measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County. She added that these deaths were reported to the CDC’s measles response team early Tuesday morning. As a pediatrician with more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Bogen maintains the state’s findings are accurate.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated on social media that it was working to determine what had happened. The agency noted that these discrepancies raised important questions, particularly because the Governor’s Office had not provided the CDC with information relevant to the outbreak and had declined offers of assistance. The Pennsylvania Department of Health immediately countered this claim, calling it “inaccurate” and stating that the department is in regular contact with CDC program staff and has consistently shared data.
The political friction occurs against a backdrop of declining public health metrics. According to CDC data, 92.7% of Pennsylvania kindergarteners had received the MMR vaccine before the 2025-26 school year, a decrease from 95.5% a decade ago. The CDC notes that herd immunity, which protects most people, requires a vaccination rate of more than 95%. In 2024, Pennsylvania reported just 6 measles cases, and in 2025, there were 16. The current surge has brought the state total to 460, with Lancaster County accounting for 197 of those infections.
Independent experts worry that the conflict is distracting from the underlying health threat. Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease doctor in the Pittsburgh area and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, noted, Now it’s turned political. It’s no longer about getting answers and figuring this out.
World Health Organization measles death definitions
Defining a measles death has become a point of contention. The World Health Organization defines a measles death as one where a person tests positive for the virus and dies within a month of the rash appearing, provided the death is not clearly due to another cause, such as trauma. State health officials are responsible for reporting these cases, a process that has become rare as vaccination rates historically kept the disease at bay. While the U.S. eliminated domestic spread of measles in 2000, national vaccination rates have recently fallen, and international health officials are scheduled to meet in November to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles-free status.