A nurse prepares a combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for a patient. (AP Photo)
Health authorities in the eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania have confirmed a fourth death linked to measles, as the nation faces the largest outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease in decades.
All four deaths occurred in unvaccinated individuals, state health officials said.
“My thoughts are with the two families who lost loved ones to this highly contagious virus, as Pennsylvania faces the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades,” said state health secretary Debra Bogen.
The latest death was of an 18-year-old, according to local medical examiners, adding to two infants who were too young to be vaccinated and a 40-year-old.
Three other measles-related deaths, including two children, were recorded across the United States last year, when the current outbreak began.
The state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, noted there have been to date 693 recorded cases of measles in Pennsylvania alone. More than 3,290 cases of measles have been recorded across the U.S. since early 2026.
Measles cause fever, respiratory symptoms, skin rashes and can have serious complications, including pneumonia, brain damaging inflammation and death.
The disease was considered eliminated in the United States in 2000, thanks to vaccination, but has made a strong comeback in recent years amid declining vaccination rates and a backdrop of growing mistrust of health authorities.
Before a vaccine was developed in the early 1960s, measles killed hundreds of children every year in the U.S., and continues to cause tens of thousands of deaths globally.
