Experts have warned that declining vaccination rates are opening the door for diseases that were once nearly eradicated to resurgence.
Published August 25, 2026
The U.S. state of Pennsylvania reported that two residents have died from measles, the first death this year from the disease, which had previously been largely eradicated in the United States.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Tuesday that the two people who died were unvaccinated Lancaster County residents, but did not provide additional details due to privacy concerns.
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“Measles has been nearly eliminated in the commonwealth for more than 30 years, so people are unfamiliar with the disease and don’t fully understand its potential severity,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Debra Bogen.
The United States is facing its most severe measles outbreak in years as vaccination rates fall below what medical experts say is needed to confer herd immunity. Part of the decline is due to the anti-vaccine movement, which includes prominent members of the Trump administration such as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
At least 2,777 measles cases have been confirmed in the United States so far this year. Pennsylvania has been hardest hit by the outbreak, recording 393 measles cases in 28 different counties.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reducing the number of vaccines recommended for children, continuing a move to roll back decades of scientific consensus on vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Presidents Trump and Kennedy, also known as RFK Jr., promoted debunked claims linking vaccinations to autism and purged the government’s health committee tasked with making recommendations on vaccine policy.
“We all thought last year’s outbreak in Texas and the number of deaths in Texas would be a wake-up call. Then we had outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah,” Dr. Angela Dunn, a former Utah state epidemiologist and former director of infectious disease control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters.
In 2025, three people died in a measles outbreak that started in West Texas and spread to New Mexico.
