Pennsylvania Requests CDC Emergency Aid Amid Growing Measles Outbreak
Pennsylvania health officials have asked the CDC for an emergency Epi-Aid after confirming 731 measles cases and four deaths, warning the request could be withdrawn if the agency does not publicly acknowledge the fatalities.
Pennsylvania's health department has formally asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an emergency Epi-Aid as a measles outbreak spreads across 38 counties, with 731 confirmed cases and four reported deaths this year. In a letter to CDC Director Erica Schwartz, Health Secretary Debra Bogen said the state would rescind the request if the agency does not publicly recognize the deaths, stating that “the CDC’s choice not to publicly recognize the deaths undermines our response.”
The move follows a dispute between Governor Josh Shapiro and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over how the outbreak is being handled and how measles-related fatalities are counted. Kennedy has questioned whether the deaths are directly caused by measles and instructed the CDC not to include Pennsylvania’s numbers in the national death tally, a decision health experts described as unusual and potentially misleading to the public.
Earlier in the outbreak, Pennsylvania officials had declined federal assistance, asserting they could manage the situation independently. However, the rapid increase in cases and fatalities prompted the shift toward seeking CDC support. The CDC has not yet commented on the request.
The outbreak is among the largest in the United States in recent decades, occurring as vaccine hesitancy contributes to a resurgence of measles nationwide. Recent changes by the previous administration altered how measles deaths are counted, now using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, though the rationale for this change has not been clarified.