Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro accuses Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of ‘compromising the serious mission of the nation’s public health agencies’ as two more people die of measles in the state

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, criticized U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after state health officials confirmed two additional measles-associated deaths. The new fatalities bring the state’s total to four this year, marking Pennsylvania’s first measles-associated deaths in 35 years.

In a post on X, Shapiro accused Kennedy of undermining public health efforts and called on him to “stop stoking vaccine skepticism and misinformation and compromising the serious mission of the nation’s public health agencies.”

The new deaths and Shapiro’s statement

Shapiro announced the additional deaths on X, writing, “These are tragedies and four families are grieving.” He added that Pennsylvania is “experiencing the worst measles outbreak in the country.”

The governor linked the outbreak to declining vaccination rates and criticized Kennedy’s handling of public health policy.

“This serious situation continues to be made worse by RFK Jr. playing games with public health and safety,” Shapiro wrote.

Shapiro also alleged that Kennedy intervened to prevent the CDC from reporting the earlier Pennsylvania deaths.

“It was deeply concerning to learn that the Secretary personally intervened in an otherwise administrative process to direct the CDC to not report these Pennsylvania deaths,” Shapiro wrote, suggesting the fatalities did not fit Kennedy’s “phony narrative.”

Kennedy responds to Shapiro

Kennedy accused Shapiro of politicizing the outbreak instead of cooperating with federal health authorities.

According to CNN, Kennedy wrote that Shapiro “has chosen to politicize this outbreak instead of implementing a unified public health response,” adding that the governor “continues to point the finger at me and the federal government and to malign the Amish while refusing the federal assistance that might help end the outbreak.”

Kennedy said he had offered Shapiro access to the CDC’s Epi-Aid program, which deploys federal epidemiologists to help states respond to disease outbreaks.

He said Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, New Mexico and Wisconsin had requested Epi-Aid assistance and that their outbreaks were brought “rapidly and successfully under control,” according to his post cited by multiple outlets, including The Hill and KRON4.

Kennedy also denied ordering the CDC to withhold Pennsylvania’s death data.

“Governor Shapiro’s claim that I directed CDC to suppress Pennsylvania deaths is false,” Kennedy wrote.

He said the CDC applies “a consistent national standard rather than allowing politicians to decide which deaths appear in federal mortality statistics.”

According to Kennedy, the agency reports measles-caused deaths after the National Center for Health Statistics determines that measles was the underlying cause based on state-submitted death records.

He reiterated his support for MMR vaccination, writing that it “is the most effective way to prevent measles infection.”

A monthslong dispute over death reporting

The disagreement follows a dispute over the classification of two earlier deaths in Pennsylvania.

According to The Washington Post and PBS News, the state’s Department of Health initially confirmed two measles-associated deaths involving unvaccinated Lancaster County residents. The county has reported the highest number of measles cases in Pennsylvania.

Shapiro appeared alongside state Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen at a Lancaster hospital press conference to announce the deaths and offer condolences to the families.

Questions soon emerged over whether measles caused both fatalities.

A county coroner told The Washington Post that a pathologist who examined one case involving a newborn who had tested positive for measles did not believe the virus caused the infant’s death.

CNN later reported that a separate death involving a 6-week-old infant with a genetic condition known as Amish lethal microcephaly was confirmed by a coroner to have been caused by measles.

Public health experts interviewed by PBS News explained that the term “measles-associated death,” which health departments use to track outbreaks in real time, does not necessarily mean measles was the official cause of death.

The distinction fueled confusion after the coroner’s findings became public.

According to The Hill, the CDC later excluded the two August deaths from its weekly national measles death tally. The agency said it was reviewing “additional information regarding the circumstances and causes of death” before adding them to the count.

The decision placed newly appointed CDC Director Erica Schwartz at the center of the dispute. The Hill reported that Schwartz had taken over the agency about a month earlier and pledged to operate independently of Kennedy’s office.

The handling of Pennsylvania’s death data became an early test of that independence.

The dispute also spilled into competing press conferences. ABC News reported that Kennedy referred to the two August deaths as “casualties” while using air quotes and questioning whether measles was properly identified as the cause.

Shapiro, meanwhile, warned that misinformation from federal officials carries “real-life consequences” and argued that families need unbiased guidance from doctors and medical professionals when making decisions about their children’s health.

Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak by the numbers

Shapiro said Pennsylvania had recorded 693 measles cases across 38 of its 67 counties, with most concentrated in Lancaster County.

According to data published on the state’s health department website, 133 people had been hospitalized. Fewer than 1 percent of those who contracted measles in Pennsylvania this year were fully vaccinated.

Kennedy’s position on the MMR vaccine

Kennedy has spent decades as a prominent voice of vaccine skepticism but has taken a different public position on measles since becoming HHS secretary.

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Kennedy urged parents to vaccinate their children against measles.

“A measles vaccine is effective. It stops measles in about 97 percent of the cases. People should get vaccinated,” he said.

Despite that guidance, health officials have warned that national kindergarten MMR vaccination coverage has fallen below the 95 percent threshold generally considered necessary to prevent widespread community transmission.

CDC guidance and measles symptoms

The CDC recommends that children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine. The first should be administered between 12 and 15 months of age and the second between ages 4 and 6, before school entry.

Measles is highly contagious. According to the CDC, symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after infection and include high fever, cough, a runny nose and red, watery eyes.

The characteristic rash usually develops three to five days after the initial symptoms. It typically begins on the face before spreading down the body.

About 20 percent of unvaccinated people who contract measles are hospitalized. The CDC also reports that approximately 1 in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia, the leading cause of measles-related death among children.

Federal response efforts

The CDC says it has deployed epidemiologists and other public health experts to assist states affected by the outbreak.

The agency has also provided laboratory testing and genomic sequencing support, analyzed outbreak data and supplied vaccines and technical assistance to local health departments.

In addition, the CDC has distributed educational materials and community outreach resources while continuing to emphasize that the MMR vaccine remains the most effective way to prevent measles infection.