The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Tuesday announced that the state recently suffered its first two measles-related deaths in 35 years.

The two individuals who died were unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, according to Pennsylvania DOH. The department has confirmed nearly 400 measles cases across the state so far in 2026.

Remarking on the two deaths, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen noted that “measles was largely eliminated… for more than three decades,” which is why many residents “are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness.”

“We want to ensure every Pennsylvanian has the information they need to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities,” Bogen added. “As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles.”

Measles has made a major resurgence in the US in 2026, and in July the total number of documented cases of the virus surpassed the number recorded throughout all over 2025.

News of the measles-related deaths—the first recorded in the country this year—prompted some critics to point the finger at US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine conspiracy theorist who was appointed by President Donald Trump to be America’s top public health official.

Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, declared that “measles is officially out of control,” while demanding that Kennedy step down from leading HHS.

“How many more people need to die before there is a nationwide call for RFK Jr. to resign?” Naughton asked. “His anti-science, anti-vaccine policies are killing people and infecting a generation of Americans with dangerous vaccine skepticism that will take years to recover from… It’s time for RFK Jr. to step aside before he inflicts more harm.”

Naughton’s call for Kennedy’s resignation was echoed by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), whose own state is experiencing a measles outbreak.

“RFK Jr.'s lies and conspiracy theories are making Marylanders sick,” Alsobrooks wrote in a Tuesday social media post. “RFK Jr. must resign or be fired. Vaccines are safe and effective. Listen to your pediatrician.”

Tara C. Smith, professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health, pointed out that the US has already experienced more measles deaths during Kennedy’s two years running HHS than it experienced throughout the prior 24 years combined.

“And outbreaks are still growing here in Ohio and in Pennsylvania,” Smith added. “Utter madness that our government is encouraging this.”

Biologist Lucky Tran, director of science communications and media relations at Columbia University, similarly observed that measles had been all but eliminated in the two decades before Kennedy took control of HHS.

“Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but will lose that status this year,” wrote Tran. “This is an abject failure of public health leadership.”

Kennedy has long used his influence to sow distrust of vaccines, including in Lancaster County, the location of the two most recent measles-related fatalities.

As The New York Times reported earlier this month, Kennedy in 2021 delivered a speech to an estimated 1,500 people in the county urging them to resist any government vaccine mandates.

“Those agencies are going to do everything in their power to make the Amish vaccinate,” Kennedy said. “Because they cannot stand the fact that you are healthy.”

The future HHS secretary also dismissed concerns about the danger of measles during the speech, recommending a mixture of “chicken soup and vitamin A” as a “cure” for the disease.

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