The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has excluded two Pennsylvania measles deaths from its official 2026 outbreak count for three consecutive weeks. The exclusion followed public questioning by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Public health experts and former officials criticize CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz for failing to resist political pressure, warning that the move undermines federal-state coordination and the reliability of national disease data.
Pennsylvania measles deaths excluded
- ▪The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention excluded two Pennsylvania measles deaths from its official 2026 outbreak count for three consecutive weeks as of September 11, 2026
- ▪Pennsylvania state officials reported two deaths blamed on measles to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prior to September 11, 2026
Kennedy disputes state determinations
- ▪The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically defers to state-level determinations when reporting causes of death to the public
- ▪U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly questioned the Pennsylvania measles deaths, prompting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to remove them from its website
Federal-state health coordination breakdown
- ▪Former Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink stated that the federal dispute over the Pennsylvania measles cases highlights a breakdown in coordination and trust between state and federal governments
- ▪Former CDC official Dr. Demetre Daskalakis stated that federal questioning of state-level death adjudications is highly problematic and dangerous
CDC director Schwartz criticized
- ▪Public health experts criticized U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Erica Schwartz for failing to resist political pressure regarding the Pennsylvania measles cases
- ▪Former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry criticized Dr. Erica Schwartz for failing to publicly address declining kindergarten vaccination rates during the back-to-school season
Disease surveillance data reliability
- ▪The dispute over the Pennsylvania measles deaths occurs amid falling vaccination rates and the worst measles resurgence in the United States in decades
- ▪American Public Health Association head Dr. Georges Benjamin expressed concern that political interference could lead the CDC to suppress national data on flu, COVID-19, and RSV
Debatable claims
- ▪The CDC should defer to state-level determinations when reporting infectious disease deaths
- ▪CDC Director Erica Schwartz is failing to protect the agency's scientific integrity
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