NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) – U.S.\u00a0Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr acknowledged \u2060on \u2060Friday that measles caused the recent death \u2060of an infant in Pennsylvania, citing information from a county coroner, but suggested the \u200bfederal government would not yet recognize the fatality in official data amid a fast-growing national outbreak.<\/p>\n
Last month, Kennedy asked for two measles-related deaths \u200creported by Pennsylvania\u2019s health department to be \u200cremoved from the CDC\u2019s national tally of measles, questioning whether the virus was the cause, Reuters reported. CDC staffers had already \u2060accepted the \u2060state\u2019s characterization of the deaths as linked to measles before Kennedy’s request.<\/p>\n
Public health experts \u200bsaid the move amounted to extraordinary political interference in the authority of a state health department and an effort to minimize the risks of the highly infectious virus.<\/p>\n
Kennedy posted on X on Friday that he was relying on information from the coroner in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where \u200bthe two deaths occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lancaster County Coroner has now publicly stated that measles caused only the second infant\u2019s death \u2060and \u2060has also publicly stated that the \u2060infant had Amish lethal \u200bmicrocephaly,\u201d Kennedy wrote on X. He said that babies with that condition typically live about 6 months and \u200bthe infant was approximately 2-months-old at death.<\/p>\n
The \u2060Lancaster coroner rejected the determination of the statewide health department that a second infant also died from measles, Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
Kennedy said the CDC’s health statistics agency still needed to receive and review records on measles deaths. At the moment, the national data does not reflect any measles deaths in 2026, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The CDC updated its website on Friday with a note explaining that it was \u2060re-evaluating how it classified measles deaths. “This work is intended to promote consistent classification and reporting of \u2060measles deaths across jurisdictions,\u201d the CDC website said without providing details on why reevaluation was required.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees CDC, did not immediately respond to questions about recording either of the Pennsylvania deaths.<\/p>\n
Neil\u00a0Ruhland, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, reiterated on Friday that the state had confirmed two measles-related deaths in the state\u2019s outbreak. He did not provide details on the deaths or comment on Kennedy\u2019s remarks. The Lancaster coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. measles cases have hit their highest level in more than three decades under President Donald Trump and Kennedy, his top health official and \u2060a long-time anti-vaccine activist. Kennedy has promoted the idea that vaccines, including the combined measles, mumps and rubella shot, are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent, despite decades of scientific evidence that the shots save lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leading medical organizations say that Kennedy\u2019s statements about vaccines and his policies as health secretary, including efforts to reduce \u200bthe number of government-recommended childhood immunizations, have increased vaccine hesitancy, making outbreaks harder to curb.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by \u200bYasmeen Abutaleb; Writing by Michele Gershberg; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)<\/p>\n
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