ATLANTA – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has excluded two measles-associated infant deaths in Pennsylvania from its official outbreak tally for three straight weeks, a move that has ignited alarm among public health experts about political meddling in the agency’s data.
Cape Flats News confirmed the timeline through official statements from the Lancaster County coroner, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and CDC data releases, as well as reports by Bloomberg, CBS News, WMBD Radio, and GPB/NPR.
The infants were Ivan Miller, who died on 14 August shortly after birth from a ruptured spleen, and 6-month-old Mary Stoltzfus.
Lancaster County Coroner Dr Stephen Diamantoni told CBS News that the measles virus itself caused Miller’s death, and state health officials had forwarded both cases to the CDC by 25 August.
The CDC, however, did not include the deaths in its regular Friday update on 29 August. When it posted the numbers on Sunday 31 August, an asterisk was added claiming available information did not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths.
WMBD Radio first reported on 3 September that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked new CDC Director Erica Schwartz to remove mention of the deaths, and that Schwartz complied without objection, according to three sources.
Former CDC official Dr Demetre Daskalakis, who once headed the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, did not hold back.
“Red flag. Red alert. … When they raise doubt on the adjudication that a state may have made around a death, that is highly problematic. … This is dangerous.”
The episode has deepened fears that Kennedy, a prominent vaccine sceptic, is eroding the scientific independence of the CDC.
Dr Debra Houry, a former CDC chief medical officer, told GPB the director should be responding to the outbreak rather than disputing death counts. “I haven’t heard from her talking about the importance of getting kindergarteners vaccinated when we’re seeing declining rates,” Houry said.
The crisis has implications far beyond the US. The CDC is a trusted partner for South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases in tracking cross-border outbreaks, and South African epidemiologists rely on its data to calibrate local responses.
South Africa itself battled a measles resurgence in 2023, with vaccination rates dipping below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity. Any erosion of trust in global health data could make future local surveillance and public messaging more difficult.
Pennsylvania Department of Health press secretary Neil Ruhland insisted in a statement that “every reported measles case is thoroughly reviewed” and that the state has provided all required data to the CDC.
It remains unclear whether the CDC will reverse its stance or if further deaths might also be excluded from future reports. Cape Flats News will continue to monitor the fallout from this controversy and will provide an update should the agency change its reporting practises or the controversy widens.