Second “Measles-Associated” Death Was 6-Week Infant With Rare Genetic Neurological Disorder
Updated
The controversy surrounding two “measles-associated” deaths in Pennsylvania continues as Governor Josh Shapiro has doubled down in his attacks on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and insists that the two deaths be reported on the CDC’s dashboard. The Lancaster County Coroner reported that one of the measles deaths was not from measles, but was an infant who died from a ruptured spleen. Governor Shapiro and his state health department had refused to provide any information regarding the deaths that they classified as “measles-associated,” but the coroner has been making public statements, so the information has now been made available.
The second case was an Amish girl who was born in July with a rare genetic neurological disorder called Amish lethal microcephaly. People with this condition have an extremely small head and an underdeveloped brain. They are on continuous palliative care and usually only live until five or six months of age. Coroner Stephen Diamantoni, MD, said the girl died from the measles, but also explained that the majority of the children with this condition die as a result of respiratory infection of any kind. They don’t have the capacity to fight infections because of their small brains.
“Instead of listening to the real doctors and public health experts, RFK chose to sow doubt, play politics, direct the CDC not to acknowledge these deaths, and even accuse me of fabricating these tragedies,” Governor Shapiro wrote on X. “That led to a firestorm of conspiracy theories that denied these families’ pain, invaded their privacy, and undermined public health.
“It’s long past time for RFK to stop playing games with people’s lives, report these deaths accurately on the CDC dashboard, and heed the guidance of actual medical experts so people get accurate information to discuss with their trusted health care providers and can best protect themselves and their children against this deadly disease.”
Secretary Kennedy, who accused Governor Shapiro of gaslighting before any details from the two deaths were available, responded to the governor’s accusations. “The facts emerging now demonstrate why CDC waited for the evidence rather than allowing political grandstanding to dictate its reporting,” Secretary Kennedy responded. “Governor Shapiro, by contrast, politicized these two tragic deaths before the underlying causes had been established.”
The CDC measles dashboard shows an asterisk next to the number of deaths for 2026 and states, “The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) does not currently have any death records from 2026 that indicate measles is the underlying cause.”
Lancaster County is home to the largest Amish settlement in the country, which is a community of people who align with the Christian faith and do not vaccinate their children. Both of the infants who died shortly after birth while also testing positive for measles were born in the Amish community.
Governor Shapiro and his health department received criticism for holding a press conference to discuss “measles-associated” deaths while providing no information except that the two individuals were unvaccinated. One of the infants was a newborn, and the other was six weeks old. The childhood schedule doesn’t recommend children receive a dose of the MMR vaccine until 12 months of age, so these two children would have been unvaccinated at this time even if the parents had planned to follow the CDC vaccination schedule.
During his press conference, Governor Shapiro was asked about the potential maligning of religious groups and said he does “worry about the US health secretary or anyone else maligning a particular community or neighborhood or county in Pennsylvania.” Governor Shapiro condemned misinformation and the rise of philosophical and religious vaccine exemptions. He said these exemptions have tripled in the last 10 years and linked that to the increase in measles cases and the two “measles-associated” deaths.
In the days following Governor Shapiro’s initial press conference, Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons pushed back on the governor’s framing of the deaths and his unwillingness to provide more details to the public. Parsons reached out to the coroner, who said there has only been one measles case investigated, and it was an infant who died from a ruptured spleen. The coroner has since spoken publicly and confirmed this position.
Days after the initial press conference, a reporter asked Governor Shapiro why he hasn’t been more specific or transparent, given the spread of misinformation. Shapiro first said the health department provided as much information as it is permitted under state law. Governor Shapiro didn’t respond to the claims of the infant dying from a ruptured spleen, but replied that he doesn’t think it serves the interest of public health to be discussing “conspiracy theories” that are showing up online.
Governor Shapiro’s latest statement was following the release of the details of the second infant as he shared an article titled, “Lancaster County baby died of measles, coroner says.” Shapiro referenced a “firestorm of conspiracy theories” without mentioning the full added context of the coroner’s statements about the two infants who died with measles.
Both of the “measles-associated” deaths were preventable with vaccination, according to Governor Shapiro, but he still hasn’t addressed the fact that the two infants were too young to receive their first doses of the MMR vaccine. Governor Shapiro criticized Secretary Kennedy during a speech in October while pointing out the economic benefits for Pennsylvania. He said more than half of vaccines administered in the US are manufactured in the state. There are large pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities from GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and EliLilly in the state.
The HighWire also reported on a proposed regulation by the Shapiro administration that would expand entry and record-access powers for disease outbreaks and health conditions without the need to obtain a warrant.