Adult woman dies of measles complications in growing Pennsylvania outbreak

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — A 40-year-old woman who lived in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, has died from measles complications, the county coroner confirmed Sunday. It's the third measles-associated death in a fast-growing outbreak that's sparked a political clash between state and federal officials.

The woman died Saturday, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Coroner's Office, which said it was working with the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the case. The woman hadn't been vaccinated against measles, the coroner, Greg Furlong, confirmed to CNN.

The death follows two measles-associated deaths reported in Lancaster County at the end of August, the first connected to the viral illness in the state in 35 years. That county is the epicenter of Pennsylvania's measles outbreak, which had reached 676 cases as of Friday, 108 of which were added in the previous week. One hundred twenty-four people have been hospitalized.

"This is a heartbreaking loss for the family and an unfortunate reminder that measles can be a serious and potentially life-threatening disease," Furlong said in a statement posted on the coroner's office's Facebook page.

The woman contracted measles after a family member had it as well, Furlong told CNN, and noted she also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and asthma and had been on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day before getting measles.

The state health department said it's in touch with the coroner and is conducting its own review of the case, and said it will provide the public with updated information when it becomes available.

In some of her first public comments about the country's measles outbreaks, Dr. Erica Schwartz, the newly confirmed director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement that the agency hadn't been notified by Pennsylvania officials of the death.

"Despite repeated offers of assistance, Pennsylvania has not requested a CDC Epi-Aid, which would deploy epidemiologists and provide on-the-ground measles outbreak support," Schwartz's statement, shared with CNN by email, said.

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"By contrast, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wisconsin have officially requested CDC Epi-Aids and worked alongside federal teams to help bring their measles outbreaks under control. CDC remains ready to provide Epi-Aid support to Pennsylvania as soon as the state officially requests our help."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in late August, when the state announced the first two measles-associated deaths, that he'd declined an offer from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for federal help. He then said he'd told the secretary that his "actions and his rhetoric," including spreading misinformation about vaccines, was harming communities.

Kennedy, an outspoken vaccine skeptic, shot back on social media, accusing Shapiro of fearmongering and the "weaponization of infectious disease" for political gain. He suggested the deaths may have been "altogether fabricated" by one of Shapiro's "hopeful staffers" to support a narrative that measles infection is more dangerous than it actually is.

The two deaths in Lancaster County were in infants, the county coroner there said, but his office disputed whether one of the deaths was caused by measles. A newborn died of a ruptured spleen, which the coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said his forensic pathologist deemed wasn't caused by the viral illness.

A second death, in a six-week-old infant with a serious genetic condition called Amish lethal microcephaly, was caused by measles, Diamantoni told CNN.

Measles typically causes about one in five people who aren't vaccinated to be hospitalized, according to the CDC. As many as one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children. One in every 1,000 kids with measles will develop brain swelling. The virus kills one to three of every 1,000 children who become infected.

"Many people associate measles with a childhood illness, but it can lead to severe complications in individuals of any age," Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner and Public Relations Officer Jason Stiver said in the office's statement. "Measles is highly contagious and can result in serious respiratory illness, hospitalization, and in rare cases like this, death."

The MMR vaccine is the best way to protect against measles, the CDC says. Two doses provide 97% protection against measles. Approved since 1963, the vaccine is very safe and side effects are usually mild and go away on their own, the agency says.

In its statement Sunday, the state health department reiterated that last month, it "confirmed two measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania," adding, "The Department's primary focus remains on stopping the spread of measles across the Commonwealth by expanding access to measles vaccination."

Contributing: Brenda Goodman

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