Two unvaccinated Amish infants in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have died from measles, marking the first confirmed US deaths linked to the disease this year amidst a nationwide resurgence and ongoing outbreak among undervaccinated communities.
Two unvaccinated Amish infants in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, died in August in what are being described as the nation’s first measles-linked deaths this year, according to local officials and reports. The cases unfolded as the county became the centre of a fast-moving outbreak, with public health authorities warning that unvaccinated people remained at greatest risk.
Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni said one infant, who died shortly after birth on 14 August, had tested positive for measles. He said the immediate cause of death was a ruptured or lacerated spleen, although the death certificate listed measles. On 4 September, Diamantoni also confirmed that a six-week-old Amish girl with a rare neurological genetic disorder died from measles at home in mid-August. Reporting by The Washington Post and local station WGAL identified the second infant and said she died on 18 August.
The deaths have drawn renewed attention to measles in Plain Anabaptist communities, including Amish and conservative Mennonites, where vaccination coverage is often lower than national averages. Pennsylvania officials said the outbreak had spread across the state, while county figures showed Lancaster accounted for a large share of the cases early in the month. The state health department said people who visited a soccer camp at Millersville University on 4 and 5 August, or a Whole Foods Market on 12 August, may have been exposed.
Public health experts say official case totals can miss many infections, particularly when families avoid care outside their communities. Allen Hoover, an Old Order Mennonite who worked in health care with Plain groups for two decades, told Anabaptist World that under-reporting was common. He also said many families were not strongly anti-vaccine, but simply did not prioritise immunisation. His comments echoed a broader view among specialists that measles can be underestimated when cases are mild or untreated.
The outbreak comes as U.S. measles numbers have climbed sharply. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 3,134 cases nationwide as of 4 September, with 94% in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Last year’s total was 2,289. Pennsylvania’s health department has said the state has had hundreds of confirmed cases across multiple counties this year, and media reports have linked infections in neighbouring Midwestern counties to travel connected with the Pennsylvania outbreak. Separately, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has questioned whether the Lancaster County deaths were caused by measles, a claim public health reporting and local coroner findings have contradicted.
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