A 39-year-old unvaccinated woman in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has died following a recent measles diagnosis. Her death is the sixth measles-associated death reported in the state during its 2026 outbreak.¹ According to a media release from Franklin County Coroner Jordan F. Conner, the woman had multiple underlying conditions, including a recent measles infection for which she received treatment. The release cited “a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles” as the primary cause of death.¹
The coroner’s office said the case meets the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) definition of a measles-associated death. It is also the first such death in Franklin County in many years.¹ DOH defines a measles-associated death as one occurring within 30 days of symptom onset in a patient with clinical and laboratory evidence of measles, excluding unrelated causes. The department is conducting a thorough review of the death.⁴
DOH reported 1,078 confirmed measles cases across 41 counties as of October 7, along with 207 hospitalizations.² Of the 74 cases added since October 5, more than 40 involved patients who had been ill more than two weeks earlier and whose cases were only recently reported and confirmed. DOH said the update does not reflect a new surge in infections.² Only 4 cases, under 1% of the total, have occurred in vaccinated individuals.²
State health center staff have given more than 5,700 MMR doses at 198 pop-up clinics in affected communities since the outbreak began in late April. In total, DOH nurses have administered nearly 9,000 doses statewide in 2026.² Provider demand has also climbed sharply: Pennsylvania clinicians typically administer about 25,000 MMR doses per month, but gave more than 49,000 in August and more than 56,000 in September.²
The Franklin County death follows the death of an unvaccinated Lancaster County resident, which DOH announced the previous week.³