Wisconsin’s infant death and national totals
Wisconsin reported an infant death from measles, the first such occurrence in the state since 1990. This death follows a Badger State outbreak that has affected more than 430 people across 13 counties this year. Wisconsin Health Secretary Kirsten Johnson said, "Any death of a child is a tragedy, and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease." I find the national situation increasingly grim as this infant death represents the third US measles fatality this week, following a child’s death in New York on Monday and an unvaccinated person’s death in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. Total US deaths this year reach nine, though state officials have only confirmed eight. The nine deaths include the Wisconsin infant and the New York child, in addition to seven fatalities in Pennsylvania that involve two babies and a healthy teen, as well as adults with underlying health conditions.
| Location | Reported Cases This Year | Reported Deaths This Year |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 430+ | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,467 | 7 |
| US Total (CDC) | 5,182 | 4 |
Discrepancies in Pennsylvania reporting
The national case and death tallies are the highest recorded since 1991, though Wisconsin health officials note that cases may go unreported because not everyone who becomes ill seeks medical care or gets tested. This is especially true in tight-knit religious communities that are less likely to seek conventional medical care. The Pennsylvania outbreak has reached 1,467 cases this year. I find the discrepancy in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, especially troubling. On October 12, Franklin County Coroner Jordan Conner listed the death of a 39-year-old woman as "a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles" after her recent diagnosis. Under state criteria, a death is considered measles-associated if the person dies within 30 days of testing positive and shows clinical signs of infection, with no other significant cause for the death. The Pennsylvania state health department now says it has not found any Franklin County cases that meet these criteria, though the investigation remains open. The Philadelphia Inquirer has taken legal action to obtain more information about the woman’s death, including her name, which a county judge sealed.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested that Pennsylvania officials "fabricated" the deaths and reportedly ordered the CDC to delete them from national data. This interference follows a CDC decision to abandon reporting state-confirmed deaths in favor of federal death records, which take longer to process and do not provide real-time data. A committee of infectious disease experts assembled by the Pan American Health Organization will review data from 2025 and early 2026 from November 10 to 13 to assess if the US has lost its measles elimination status. This status was declared in 2000 after a year without continuous domestic transmission. Prior to vaccination, measles sickened 3 to 4 million people per year, sent nearly 50,000 to the hospital, caused 1,000 cases of brain swelling, and killed 400 to 500 people.
