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CDC Director Challenges Pennsylvania’s Report of Two Measles Deaths
Confirmed
In Short: The CDC's new director, Erica Schwartz, has instructed her team to remove reports of two measles deaths from the agency's website.
Kennedy, the CDC's director, has ordered the deletion of reports of two measles deaths in Pennsylvania from the CDC's website. This action comes after an internal database still lists the deaths, as verified by CDC staff.
The deaths, of a newborn and a child, were initially reported by Pennsylvania health officials but were swiftly removed from the CDC's website within hours on August 30.
This move follows a heated exchange between Kennedy and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who criticized Kennedy's anti-vaccine rhetoric for contributing to the measles outbreak.
Despite the removal from the CDC's website, Pennsylvania's state health department maintains that it has provided all necessary information to the CDC.
The measles outbreak in Pennsylvania has grown significantly, with at least 577 cases reported in the last few months, including the two deaths that are now being disputed.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Early today, Reuters reported that Kennedy instructed new CDC director Erica Schwartz to delete the two deaths from the agency’s website.
- Still, Schwartz deleted the deaths without objection, insiders told Reuters.
- A 6-week-old baby girl is one of two people with measles who died in Pennsylvania, the Lancaster County coroner said Friday, as the nation’s measles tally hit a new 35-year record of 3,134 cases.
- After a public tug-of-war between Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who announced the recent deaths during a briefing last week, and Health Secretary Robert F.