The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed two measles deaths in Pennsylvania from a national database just days after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly disputed whether state officials had properly classified the cases.
The two deaths had been reflected in the CDC’s national count before being scrubbed over the weekend. The CDC said in a note posted to its website that it was reviewing “additional information regarding the circumstances and causes of death.”
Currently available information “does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with measles,” the note says. The message mirrors the questions raised by Kennedy on Aug. 26 during a public spat with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has downplayed the severity of measles outbreaks during his tenure, questioned whether the contagious disease played an active role in the deaths. He also suggested the deaths may have been “fabricated” by one of Shapiro’s staffers.
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A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services department said the two deaths have not been confirmed “based on the information currently available to CDC.”
“CDC has a responsibility to ensure its reporting accurately and transparently reflects what is known and what remains unconfirmed,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The information currently posted reflects the best available information and our commitment to transparency and telling the American people the truth—a foundational principle of the Trump Administration.”
The fatalities, flagged to the CDC by Pennsylvania on Aug. 25, are the state’s first reported measles-related deaths in 35 years. Pennsylvania has recorded almost 500 measles cases this year, according to the state Department of Health, one of the highest numbers in the country.
One of the two people who died was a newborn who state health officials said had tested positive for measles and died from a ruptured spleen. Both deaths occurred in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County.
The deaths aggravated Shapiro, who said in a news conference Aug. 26 that there were “real-life consequences to spreading misinformation.”
“Kennedy’s actions to dismantle public health agencies and his language that undermines confidence in vetted medical guidance are contributing to these kinds of outbreaks,” Shapiro wrote on X later in the day. “Just a few years ago, Secretary Kennedy was in Lancaster downplaying the severity of measles and saying that the cure was ‘chicken soup and vitamin A.’”
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