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Lancaster coroner says a six-week-old died of measles; Kennedy still disputes a second death
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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had questioned Pennsylvania’s two measles-associated deaths. The county coroner confirmed one infant death and said measles did not kill a newborn.
Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni said a six-week-old Amish girl with Amish lethal microcephaly died of measles at home about Aug. 18. Pennsylvania had reported two measles-associated deaths; Diamantoni said a newborn boy died of a ruptured spleen and that measles did not contribute. Kennedy had suggested the deaths might have been fabricated and ordered them off CDC’s public tally, which still showed zero 2026 measles deaths. Gov. Josh Shapiro said the confirmation should be reported on the CDC dashboard. Pediatrician Paul Offit said the babies would not have died without measles.
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Disputed opinions
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Measles killed 6-week-old baby, coroner confirms after RFK Jr. disputed deaths
4 Sep 2026
Facts
Kennedy ordered new CDC director Erica Schwartz to remove the deaths from the agency’s data.
Gov. Josh Shapiro shared a local news report about the coroner’s confirmation on social media.
Diamantoni said he had not received the death reports when the state announced them.
CDC staff had already accepted the deaths as measles and reported them.
Schwartz removed the deaths from the public website.
Shapiro seemed to confirm it was one of the deaths reported by state health officials.
Stephen Diamantoni is a Republican elected coroner in 2007.
A later note said NCHS has no 2026 death records listing measles as the underlying cause.
The condition is caused by a mutation in the SLC25A19 gene.
The deaths are still included in an internal CDC database.
Lancaster County does not have its own health department and relies on the state.
State and local health departments had been solely responsible for measles-associated death determinations, and CDC reported what it received.
Erica Schwartz is the new director of the CDC.
The CDC page was updated Friday to change the meaning of the asterisk.
The mother became ill amid a state outbreak that has hit Lancaster County hard.
CDC reported three measles deaths last year in Texas and New Mexico.
Diamantoni said a pathologist determined the cause of death was a ruptured spleen.
The baby was born with a pulse but was not breathing.
The mother told The Atlantic she could not speak above a whisper and had no energy as she went into labor.
Ars Technica asked HHS whether CDC can report outbreak deaths only after NCHS has death records.
Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has challenged the spleen assessment.
Offit said measles can enlarge the spleen and birth could rupture it in that state.
Several of the mother’s other children became ill before her infection.
Evaluations found evidence of the infection in the newborn’s lungs.
The newborn was declared dead less than a half-hour later after paramedics tried oxygen and chest compressions.
Offit said ruptured spleens are extremely rare in newborns.
Offit said once a spleen ruptures it is hard to tell whether it was enlarged.
Offit said if measles was not the cause, Diamantoni should provide another explanation.
Opinion
Ars Technica said Kennedy made that fabrication claim without evidence.
Ars Technica described the health secretary as anti-vaccine.
Ars Technica called Kennedy’s claim that the deaths were not real false.
Ars Technica said the deaths have been engulfed in a firestorm of controversy.
Ars Technica described Kennedy’s role as interference.
Offit said the two babies would not have died if not for measles.
Shapiro criticized Kennedy for sowing doubt about the deaths.
6-week-old infant died of measles, Pennsylvania county coroner says
4 Sep 2026
Facts
Diamantoni said his office does not recognize that category.
Diamantoni cited the spleen’s size, no inflammation, no fragile capsule, and the laceration’s character.
The mother said no one had told them about the lacerated spleen.
The mother said she required extra fluids.
Public-health experts typically expect 1 to 3 deaths per 1,000 measles cases.
About 400 infections had been reported in the Pennsylvania outbreak when the two babies died.
Two MMR doses prevent measles illness about 97% of the time.
Infants cannot get the first MMR dose for the first few months of life.
Babies normally get the first dose around a year of age.
Bogen said they have administered a record number of MMR vaccinations in recent months.
In an outbreak, doctors may give the first dose as early as 6 months.
Bogen expressed condolences to the families grieving the losses.
Gov. Josh Shapiro held a news conference to announce the deaths and encouraged vaccination.
Kennedy accused Shapiro of using the briefing to score political points.
Bogen said the state values work with local, state and federal partners on the outbreak.
Opinion
CNN said the deaths sparked a heavily politicized fight over what counts as a measles death.
CNN said that death count among 400 reported infections suggests many cases have gone unreported.
Offit said the outbreak is much bigger than people are claiming.
Offit said the outbreak is getting worse as winter and school return with many unvaccinated children.
CNN said Kennedy has downplayed the seriousness of measles.
Kennedy’s charge that Shapiro used the briefing for political points is a motive claim.
6-week-old Amish child died from measles, Lancaster County coroner confirms
4 Sep 2026
Facts
The child was a 6-week-old Amish girl.
It is the first confirmed measles death in the United States this year.
The case was not initially reported to Diamantoni’s office.
Diamantoni said an investigation found the case was handled by the Clinic for Special Children in Leacock Township.
Diamantoni still did not know whether this was the second measles-associated death the governor reported.
Health Secretary Debra Bogen spoke at an Aug. 25 press conference in Lancaster County.
Diamantoni said the condition is very rare outside the Amish community.
Diamantoni said those children are placed on palliative care from birth.
The first case was a newborn male who died shortly after birth Aug. 14.
Diamantoni said clinic providers did not think the death needed to be referred because it was not unexpected.
The health department did not say whether this was one of the deaths Shapiro and Bogen announced.
This was the second child with measles the Lancaster County coroner’s office investigated.
Diamantoni declined to share the child’s name.
Lancaster County had 246 measles cases this year as of Friday.
LNP | LancasterOnline filed a Right-to-Know request for the information.
The clinic said patient privacy barred it from discussing the inquiry.
The clinic directed the public to the coroner and the state health department.
Diamantoni said there was massive blood loss from the laceration.
Diamantoni said the investigation is ongoing.
Uhrich said most Pennsylvania deaths, including measles-associated deaths, should be reported to a coroner.
CDC cited confusion surrounding the data and a lack of transparency on the deaths.
CDC said it will update the national count as additional information becomes available.
Uhrich said a child under 3 who died of measles or a related condition should have been reported.
Diamantoni said his office did not perform an autopsy because the child had already been buried.
Medically attended deaths under a physician’s long-term care are not required to be reported to a coroner.
Uhrich pointed to a statute requiring an autopsy for the sudden unexplained death of a child not more than 3.
Timothy Uhrich, solicitor for the Pennsylvania State Coroners’ Association, spoke Aug. 27.
Diamantoni pointed Friday to a subsection requiring measles or measles-associated deaths to be reported.
Diamantoni said he had no reason to doubt the clinic providers’ findings.
The statute requires reporting a death known or suspected to be due to contagious disease constituting a public hazard.
Uhrich said a death does not become a coroner’s case if a treating doctor is comfortable signing the death certificate.
Diamantoni said he does not fault the Clinic for Special Children for not reporting the death.
Diamantoni said the providers were not aware the statute required reporting.
The statute also requires reporting a sudden unexplained infant death and stillbirth.
Diamantoni said the physicians who signed the death certificate did so with knowledge of this information.
Diamantoni said measles is a respiratory infection.
Opinion
Diamantoni said the measles cause of death clinically makes a great deal of sense.
Diamantoni said the clinic does a remarkable job.
Diamantoni said clinic staff are skilled, knowledgeable and exceedingly compassionate.