Pennsylvania asks CDC for emergency help as measles outbreak grows
(RFK Jr. and Trump pushing Measles misinformation, Image credit: X)
Pennsylvania is seeking emergency assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a rapidly expanding measles outbreak pushes the state past 700 confirmed cases—but the request comes with a condition that has intensified an already contentious dispute with federal health officials.
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen said the state has begun the formal process of requesting a CDC Epi-Aid, a short-term deployment of federal epidemiologists and other public-health specialists to assist during disease outbreaks. The request, however, could be withdrawn if the CDC does not publicly recognize four deaths that Pennsylvania health officials have classified as measles-associated.
In a letter to CDC Director Erica Schwartz, Bogen said the agency’s decision not to publicly recognize the deaths was undermining Pennsylvania’s response. She said the state’s epidemiological investigations followed its established criteria for determining measles-associated deaths.
The dispute comes as Pennsylvania’s outbreak continues to spread. The state reported 731 confirmed measles cases in 38 counties as of Sept. 16, with 141 patients requiring hospitalization, according to the state’s latest figures cited by Forbes.
“The health secretary had instructed the CDC not to include the state’s measles fatalities in a national tally.” ~ HuffPost
The four deaths have become the subject of a broader disagreement between Pennsylvania officials and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Federal officials have questioned whether all four deaths should be classified as measles deaths and have not included them in the CDC’s national measles mortality tally. The CDC says it is working toward a standardized definition for reporting measles deaths nationwide.
Federal officials have also disputed Pennsylvania’s characterization of the assistance request. An HHS spokesperson said the CDC had not received the request through its normal channels and maintained that federal outbreak assistance and national death reporting are separate processes.
Pennsylvania initially declined CDC personnel during the outbreak, saying its health department was capable of managing the response. But the continuing spread of the virus—including cases farther from the outbreak’s original epicenter—has increased pressure for additional assistance. Reuters reported that one of the recently reported deaths occurred in Mifflin County, more than 100 miles from Lancaster County, where the outbreak began.
The state’s vaccination effort has also slowed. Pennsylvania administered more than 3,500 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses in August, compared with roughly 1,100 during the first half of September, according to state health department data cited by Reuters. Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide about 97% protection against measles infection.
For now, Pennsylvania’s request places public-health cooperation and the disputed classification of the four deaths at the center of an increasingly high-profile measles outbreak.
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(Sources: Reuters, HuffPost, The Hill, Forbes)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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