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US excludes Pennsylvania measles deaths from national counts

scienceAug 31, 2026303,333

The CDC is not including two measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania in its national tally while it reviews additional information about the circumstances and causes, the agency said after briefly posting and then removing the entries from its measles landing page. The two Pennsylvania deaths were reported in August and include at least one newborn who died soon after birth after the mother, from Lancaster County’s Amish community, became severely ill with measles and delivered prematurely. The agency delayed its weekly update and left the national measles death count at zero, explaining that available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the HHS secretary, has publicly suggested the Pennsylvania deaths were “fabricated.” Debra Houry, former CDC chief medical officer, called the CDC’s decision “highly unusual” and noted the agency included three measles deaths from Texas and New Mexico in last year’s tally. Public health experts warn the departure from the usual practice of accepting state-reported reportable disease data could undermine CDC collaboration with state health departments and affect how future state-reported deaths are handled.

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

Welp, there it is. The CDC is now officially manipulating data and their count of measles deaths in 2026 now stands at ZERO. My understanding of reportable diseases is that the CDC would usually use a state health department’s determination as the final say. The new CDC Director is failing us.

225545d ago
Quoting this
Convolver64

*slaps roof of White House* this bad boy can fit so many 18 USC §1001 violations in it

Oliver Rautenberg | Antifaschist, Antitheist, Queer57

Daten über Maserntote in den USA werden gelöscht.

Mzbitca40

This is what happens when we have to pretend conspiracy theorists are earnestly engaging in something. They are not trying to seek information, they believe they already know the truth and anything that challenges that is wrong or a lie

Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH39

Reminds me of Donald Trump on Covid: "If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any" Truth disrupts the goals of authoritarianism & fascism, thus truth (& a shared reality, based on facts, data, & evidence) must be destroyed. In its place comes data manipulation & propaganda.

babs ✨31

they're doing it before your eyes—again. if you still think the government has your best interest in mind when giving guidance on staying healthy, what more do they have to do for you to believe what they're showing you: they do not care.

Derek Powazek23

If they're cooking the books on numbers we know about, imagine what they're doing on the numbers we don't.

🇲🇽🕷️rustbelt rebel🕷️🇲🇽21

I am no doctor or scientist etc- but if a baby is surrounded by people with measles (at least 200 cases in that community) to the point his own mother and siblings has measles? My first thought is: that baby died from measles. Second thought: or from the mother having measles.

Jenn9

This is your reminder babies can't get vaccinated against measles, and one of the deaths was a NEWBORN.

TV's Adam, getting some buzzards involved,5

tweaking the numbers to make a disease seem less prevalent and deadly than it actually is so their deliberate negligence isn’t as obviously monstrous? the cdc is playing all the old hits lately

Zamafir4

Republicans are the greatest threat America faces.

Apoorva Mandavilli
@apoorvanyt.bsky.social

Erica Schwartz, the new CDC director, ordered agency officials to challenge two measles deaths reported by PA, shunning the agency’s normal procedure of accepting state data and amplifying comments made by her boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/h...

37045d ago
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