Measles resurges in Pittsburgh amid rising US outbreaks and declining vaccine coverage

The first measles case in Pittsburgh since 2019 signals a potential increase as outbreaks expand across Pennsylvania and the US, highlighting concerns over vaccine uptake and emerging health risks.

Measles has turned up in the Pittsburgh area for the first time since 2019, and infectious disease doctors say more cases are likely as the outbreak widens across Pennsylvania and the US. Dr Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, said the city’s first recent case was not a surprise given the state’s rising number of infections and falling vaccine coverage.

Public health data show why doctors are worried. The CDC says herd immunity against measles usually requires about 95% of people to be immunised, but Pennsylvania’s school-year vaccination rate was closer to 92% in 2024-25. The state has reported 379 confirmed cases so far this year, including 181 in Lancaster County, while CDC figures published last updated on August 13 placed Pennsylvania behind only South Carolina and Utah in total cases. The disease has also moved westward within the state, with cases confirmed in Indiana, Somerset and Clarion counties.

At UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, the patient diagnosed with measles was not from Allegheny County and has been isolated, the hospital said. Dr Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer, told TribLive that another person was being tested in the county. Dr Marian Michaels, a paediatric infectious diseases specialist at the hospital, said she expects more local infections and warned that measles can have serious consequences, including death. The CDC recorded three measles deaths in the US last year, and none among the more than 2,500 confirmed cases reported this year.

Doctors say the symptoms usually start with fever, then a rash, along with irritation of the eyes and mouth. Michaels said clinicians at UPMC have stepped up precautions and prepared isolation rooms for possible cases. The best protection remains the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, given in two doses, and Pennsylvania health officials say an extra dose does not pose a risk for people who are unsure whether they were already vaccinated. For those without insurance, the Allegheny County Health Department offers MMR vaccination at its clinic in downtown Pittsburgh.