Pennsylvania reported 792 measles cases and 155 hospitalizations Monday as the outbreak continued expanding, while state and federal officials remained divided over how measles-associated deaths should be counted.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak climbed to 792 confirmed cases Monday, an increase of 25 since Friday, as the state remained one of the focal points of the largest U.S. resurgence of the disease in decades.

Hospitalizations also increased, with the Pennsylvania Department of Health reporting that 155 patients had been hospitalized during the outbreak, up from 150 reported Sept. 18.

Lancaster County has remained the hardest-hit area since the outbreak began, although infections have spread well beyond the initial concentration there. By Friday, the state had confirmed cases across 38 counties.

Pennsylvania’s case count has risen rapidly throughout September.

The Department of Health reported 624 confirmed infections Sept. 9, followed by 676 on Sept. 11, 693 on Sept. 14, 731 on Sept. 16 and 767 by Sept. 18. Monday’s total of 792 represents an increase of 168 confirmed cases in less than two weeks.

The outbreak has also produced a dispute over deaths reported by Pennsylvania health officials.

The state reported four measles-associated deaths as of Sept. 18, including two additional fatalities announced earlier in the week. The individuals were unvaccinated, according to state and federal reporting.

Those deaths have not yet been incorporated into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national measles death count.

The CDC reported 3,471 confirmed U.S. measles cases as of Sept. 17 but listed no deaths for 2026 in its national tally at that time. The agency said it was working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardized definition for measles-related deaths.

The discrepancy has become the subject of disagreement between Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Pennsylvania health officials classify the four fatalities as measles-associated deaths. Kennedy has questioned whether the deaths should be directly attributed to measles and instructed the CDC not to include the Pennsylvania cases in its national total while the federal government reviews how fatalities are classified.

The CDC previously relied more heavily on state health departments for reporting measles deaths but shifted toward mortality information collected through the National Center for Health Statistics. The agency said it would revise its national reporting when additional reviews were completed.

The disagreement became intertwined with Pennsylvania’s request for additional federal assistance.

State Health Secretary Debra Bogen began formally seeking CDC emergency outbreak support, known as an Epi-Aid, on Sept. 16 as case numbers continued rising.

“The CDC’s choice not to publicly recognize the deaths undermines our response,” Bogen wrote to CDC Director Erica Schwartz. “For this reason, if CDC is unable to transparently and accurately communicate information about those measles-associated deaths, the Department will respectfully rescind our request for a CDC Epi-Aid.”

HHS responded that federal outbreak assistance should be considered separately from the CDC’s process for determining how deaths are classified.

The Pennsylvania outbreak had initially been concentrated heavily in Lancaster County, but cases have since appeared in dozens of counties.

Mifflin County had emerged by mid-September as the state’s second-hardest-hit county, more than 100 miles from Lancaster County, illustrating the geographic spread of the virus.

Vaccination efforts have intensified alongside the increase in cases.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it held 11 temporary vaccination clinics in affected communities over two days during the week ending Sept. 18, administering more than 400 measles, mumps and rubella vaccine doses.

State data nevertheless showed the pace of vaccinations administered directly by the department had slowed. Pennsylvania health officials administered more than 3,500 MMR doses during August but approximately 1,100 during the first half of September.

Measles is one of the world’s most contagious infectious diseases.

The virus spreads through respiratory droplets and airborne particles when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms typically include fever, cough, runny nose, irritated eyes and a characteristic rash, while complications can include pneumonia and other serious respiratory problems.

Vaccination remains the primary method of preventing infection.

Two doses of the MMR vaccine are approximately 97% effective at preventing measles, according to both Pennsylvania health officials and the CDC.

Breakthrough infections can occur but remain uncommon. Pennsylvania reported Sept. 11 that only four of its then-676 cases involved people considered appropriately vaccinated for their ages, accounting for less than 1% of cases at that point in the outbreak.

Nationally, the CDC recorded 3,471 confirmed cases as of Sept. 17, up from 3,294 one week earlier. Cases had been reported by 47 jurisdictions during 2026.

Pennsylvania alone accounted for nearly 800 infections by Monday, with the state’s total continuing to increase despite vaccination clinics and other containment efforts.

The latest numbers leave health officials confronting two parallel issues: controlling continued transmission and resolving the disagreement over how deaths connected to the outbreak should be classified in federal statistics.

For now, Pennsylvania continues to count four measles-associated deaths, while the CDC’s national figures await completion of its revised mortality-review process.

Original article