CDC lists six US measles deaths in 2026; state reports suggest more, Guardian says

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists six measles-related deaths in the United States in 2026. The figure appeared on the agency's website on Thursday, 12 November 2026, according to The Guardian and Reuters.

The Guardian reports that this count is lower than state-level figures and that the gap followed a change in how the agency tracks measles deaths.

A change in method

According to The Guardian, a note posted on the CDC website on 4 September says the agency now uses data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to track measles deaths. The Guardian describes NCHS data as a way to track mortality trends over time. The CDC did not say which states account for its six deaths, according to The Guardian.

Citing Reuters reporting, The Guardian says US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked CDC Director Erica Schwartz not to include two Pennsylvania deaths in the official tally. The Reuters item reviewed by Vocemundi does not include this account. The Guardian reports that the CDC changed its data source the day after that Reuters report was published. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not establish whether the two events are connected.

The wider outbreak

According to The Guardian:

• The six deaths in the CDC count are twice the number recorded in 2025.
• The US is experiencing its largest measles outbreak since 1991. More than 5,400 cases have been reported, according to the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker.
• Active outbreaks have been reported in nearly every state.
• Measles was officially declared eliminated in the US in 2000. The country could lose that status this week, joining Canada and several countries in Europe and Asia where measles returned after elimination.
• The MMR vaccine offers about 97% protection after two doses.

What is disputed

The national death toll is disputed. The CDC lists six deaths and does not name the states. The state-level confirmations described by The Guardian add up to at least eight. Pennsylvania, the most affected state, has confirmed six. A child died in New York on election day, the state's first known measles-related death in more than three decades. Wisconsin's Department of Health Services confirmed the death of an infant days later.

What each side says

Kennedy has argued that two of the Pennsylvania deaths may not have been caused by measles, according to The Guardian. The Guardian says he made this argument without evidence.

What is not known

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say which deaths the CDC counts or whether the two Pennsylvania deaths are excluded. They do not explain how the new method differs from the old one. They include no response from the CDC, Kennedy or Schwartz to the Reuters account.

Analysis

The gap between federal and state figures matters for how the outbreak's severity is understood and for trust in official data. One scenario is that the CDC explains its NCHS-based method and lists which deaths it includes. That could show whether the difference is technical, such as reporting timelines, or reflects decisions about specific cases. Without such detail, questions linked to the reported request concerning two Pennsylvania deaths may remain open. A decision on the country's measles elimination status could add further scrutiny to how cases and deaths are counted. None of these outcomes is certain.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.