Pennsylvania Seeks CDC Measles Aid, Conditions Request on Death Recognition
Pennsylvania health officials have asked the CDC for emergency assistance in the state's measles outbreak, stating they will withdraw the request if the agency does not publicly acknowledge four measles-related deaths.
Pennsylvania’s health department wrote to CDC Director Erica Schwartz on Wednesday, asking for an emergency Epi-Aid to help control a measles outbreak that has spread to 37 counties and resulted in four deaths, according to state officials. The request is conditioned on the CDC’s public recognition of those fatalities; the department said it would rescind the request if the agency does not transparently report the deaths.
The dispute follows a disagreement between U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Governor Josh Shapiro. Kennedy has questioned whether the reported deaths were caused by measles and instructed the CDC not to include them in national statistics, a move described by disease experts as an unusual level of interference in state health reporting.
HHS spokesperson Grace Davis Jamison said the CDC had not received a formal request through standard channels and emphasized that assistance and fatality reporting are separate matters. "CDC will not submit to political blackmail that conditions critical public health assistance," she said.
The outbreak, first reported with two deaths on Aug. 25, has grown to more than 700 confirmed cases. State officials have previously declined CDC on-site assistance, citing confidence in their own response. However, the pace of measles vaccinations has slowed, with doses administered dropping from over 3,500 in August to about 1,100 in the first half of September.
Experts noted that the outbreak could be larger than official counts suggest and warned that misalignment between state and federal leadership could hinder effective response.