Two official numbers about measles deaths in 2026 sit side by side, and they do not match. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists 2 deaths nationwide this year. The Pennsylvania Department of Health lists 4 in Pennsylvania alone. Both figures come from the agencies’ own pages, and there is not yet a national standard for what counts as a measles death.
What CDC says about its count
CDC’s measles page, updated Sept. 25 with case data as of Sept. 24, shows “Total Deaths” of 2 for 2026 and 3 for 2025. A footnote on the 2026 figure reads: “This number is subject to change; CDC will update its reporting as additional information becomes available and relevant reviews are completed.”
The page also says CDC “is also working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) to develop a standardized case definition for deaths due to measles.” The stated aim is “to promote consistent classification and reporting of measles deaths across jurisdictions.” Elsewhere the page notes that “states have the most up-to-date information about cases and outbreaks in their jurisdictions.”
CDC’s page does not list which deaths are in its total.
What Pennsylvania counts
Pennsylvania’s measles page says: “CSTE is currently working on measles death guidance. PA DOH has established a definition that is modeled on the existing CSTE definitions for other respiratory illness-associated deaths, such as flu and RSV.”
Under that definition: “A confirmed measles-associated death is a death that occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in an individual with clinical evidence of a measles infection and a positive laboratory test and that is not due to unrelated causes (e.g., motor vehicle accident).” The department says it would not count a death if the person had a previous measles diagnosis and fully recovered before dying, or if the death came more than 30 days after rash onset.
The department first confirmed two measles-associated deaths on Aug. 25, according to the list of releases on its measles page. The department’s Sept. 28 statewide update lists “Total Confirmed Measles-Associated Deaths: 4.” Its Sept. 15 release confirmed two additional deaths and said both people were unvaccinated. One lived in Jefferson County and the other in Mifflin County. The department said it would not release details that could identify the two people. In that release, Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen said Pennsylvania “faces the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades.”
How both numbers can stand
A national total and a state total are only comparable if both use the same rules. Right now they may not. CDC’s footnote says its number can change after reviews. Pennsylvania applies its own written criteria. CDC and CSTE are still developing a shared definition, and CDC directs readers to states for the latest local figures. None of this shows either number to be wrong. It shows that “measles deaths” currently has no single national meaning.
The national picture
CDC reports 3,659 confirmed U.S. measles cases in 2026 as of Sept. 24, compared with 2,289 in all of 2025. By Plainly Now’s calculation, that is 1,370 more cases, about 1.6 times last year’s full total. Of those, 3,642 were reported by 47 jurisdictions and 17 among international visitors, and CDC counts 40 new outbreaks this year. About 95% of cases are linked to outbreaks, which CDC defines as three or more related cases.
Nine percent of cases, 327 of 3,659, were hospitalized. CDC lists 95% of cases as “Unvaccinated or Unknown,” 2% as having received one MMR dose and 3% as having received two.
CDC also reports that kindergarten MMR coverage fell from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in 2025-2026, “leaving approximately 280,000 kindergartners at risk.”
The Pennsylvania picture
As of the department’s Sept. 28 update, 903 measles cases have been confirmed across 39 counties in 2026. The department lists 176 hospitalizations. Four cases, less than 1%, were among vaccinated people.
What to watch
For now, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and CDC pages are the places to check for current numbers.