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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? Pennsylvania<\/a> has recorded more than 1,350 measles cases this year, the largest count of any U.S. state, according to state health figures.<\/p>\n More than a third of those infections have arisen in Lancaster County alone.<\/p>\n The county is home to the largest Amish<\/a> population in the U.S., and it now finds itself the epicenter of the nation’s worst measles outbreak in 35 years.<\/p>\n The scale of the outbreak prompted one leading physician to warn, \u201cNo one in the United States of America who is susceptible to the measles virus, either having not been vaccinated or not having previously had it, should feel safe from measles. No one.\u201d <\/p>\n Vaccination rates have long been low among the Amish, and are now falling in the general population, creating the perfect conditions for the contagious virus \u2014 officially considered \u201celiminated\u201d from the U.S. since 2000 \u2014 to spread here and beyond.<\/p>\n Community leaders say the true figure is likely a big undercount, since many people with measles never see a doctor.<\/p>\n The state has recorded three measles-associated deaths in Lancaster and two in other counties.<\/p>\n The outbreak has hit especially hard among the \u201cPlain communities\u201d of Amish and conservative Mennonites<\/a>, so named for the religious groups’ modest dress and limited use of technology.<\/p>\n Vaccination rates and attitudes about vaccines vary widely among them.<\/p>\n Overall, they are less likely to be vaccinated than the general population, more because of culture and habit than doctrine.<\/p>\n The outbreak follows one in 2025 in Mennonite populations in Texas<\/a> and elsewhere.<\/p>\n Most states have recorded cases this year.<\/p>\n And though the Plain People avoid participating in many areas of society, they’re not isolated.<\/p>\n They interact with the general public at farmers’ markets, doctors’ offices and elsewhere.<\/p>\n So their new openness to vaccines after bearing the brunt of the outbreak impacts the entire community.<\/p>\n While some think all Plain people reject vaccines, views actually vary<\/p>\n Attitudes toward vaccines in Plain communities have alternately warmed and cooled over the years, most recently cooling in reaction to strict COVID<\/a>-19 public health measures, according to community leaders and scholars.<\/p>\n The measles outbreak is prompting many to accept the shots while reinforcing vaccine skepticism and suspicion in others.<\/p>\n Those who avoid vaccines usually aren’t driven by ideology, community leaders and experts say.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing in Amish theology or historic documents that you can find that specifically addresses or is opposed to immunization,\u201d said Steve Nolt, director of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County.<\/p>\n The main reason Plain people skip vaccinations isn’t that they’re against them, added Allen Hoover, an Old Order Mennonite and former administrator of the Parochial Medical Center in New Holland. \u201cIt was simply, \u2018Well, we never did before, and we came through all right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Dropping vaccination rates across the US increases the threat of measles<\/p>\n Measles spreads easily when people who have it breathe, cough or sneeze, or through contaminated surfaces.<\/p>\n \u201cMeasles is really the lion king of infectious diseases when it comes to transmission,\u201d said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota<\/a>‘s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. \u201cNo one in the United States of America who is susceptible to the measles virus, either having not been vaccinated or not having previously had it, should feel safe from measles. No one.\u201d<\/p>\n The risk grows as vaccination rates decline, as they have across the nation.<\/p>\n According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, 92.4% of U.S. kindergarteners in 2025-26 received the required MMR<\/a> shots.<\/p>\n That’s down from 95.2% in 2019-20.<\/p>\n \u201cThough Plain communities are an easy and recognizable target, declining childhood vaccination rates in our county are not limited to the Amish,\u201d wrote Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, in a recent commentary. \u201cKindergarten vaccination rates have declined in every central Pennsylvania county since 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, Pennsylvania’s overall kindergarten MMR vaccination rate fell to 93.2% by last year.<\/p>\n That is below the 95% rate that makes an outbreak extremely unlikely in a community.<\/p>\n During the COVID-19 pandemic, area doctors saw more vaccine hesitancy among patients within and outside of Plain communities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe COVID vaccine just created a lot of distrust, a lot of conspiracy theories,\u201d said Dr. Anne-Marie Derrico, chief medical officer at the nonprofit Union Community Care. \u201cThere\u2019s still kind of an overall distrust of vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n After a decline in trust, some minds are changing<\/p>\n Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder said public officials need to promote the message that the vaccine is safe and effective and encourage people to get it.<\/p>\n That approach succeeded during Pennsylvania’s last measles outbreak in 1991.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were lines of people in the Plain community that would come and get vaccinated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Dr. D. Holmes Morton, who founded the Central Pennsylvania Clinic in Mifflin County, which treats Plain patients with genetic diseases, said the same is happening now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are having more success at having vaccine days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this will keep everyone safer, said Dr. Diego Hijano of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.<\/p>\n Getting the shot is \u201can act of love to your community,\u201d he said. \u201cYou will get protected yourself. But in truth, you are actually protecting everyone around you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 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\n Log in<\/a>\n <\/p>\n![\"Lancaster](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_76245.jpg\")
Lancaster County, home to the largest Amish population in the U.S., is now the epicenter of the nation\u2019s worst measles outbreak in 35 years (AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_63382.jpg\")
A woman from the Plain community rides a scooter in Intercourse (AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_78896.jpg\")
A member of the Plain community harvests crops in Intercourse (AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_77342.jpg\")
A hay auction at The Green Dragon Farmers Market and Auction in Ephrata (AP)<\/p>\n![\"Measles,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_72_32.jpg\")
Measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine at Union Community Care clinic in Lancaster (AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Measles-Amish_Country_7_353.jpg\")
A member of the Plain community, center left, sells flowers at The Green Dragon Farmers Market and Auction in Ephrata (A)<\/p>\n