A 39-year-old woman in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has died after being diagnosed with measles, state officials confirmed this week, making her the sixth person to die in connection with the commonwealth's 2026 outbreak — one of the worst in the country.

The Franklin County Coroner's Office said the woman, who was unvaccinated and had several underlying health conditions, died on October 10 of "a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles." The office said her death met the state health department's definition of a measles-associated death, but declined to release further details, citing privacy.

A Fast-Moving Outbreak

Pennsylvania has logged 1,136 measles cases in 2026, with 219 people hospitalized, according to the most recent state tally. Lancaster County remains the epicenter with roughly 415 cases, followed by Mifflin County with 167. The five earlier Pennsylvania deaths this year included two infants in Lancaster County, an 18-year-old in Mifflin County, and adults in Jefferson and Lancaster counties — most of them unvaccinated.

Nationally, the CDC's latest count puts confirmed U.S. measles cases at 4,080 as of October 8, up 193 in a single week, spread across 47 jurisdictions with 42 distinct outbreaks. Ninety-six percent of cases nationwide are linked to an identified outbreak.

"THE DEPARTMENT IS CONDUCTING A THOROUGH REVIEW OF THE REPORTED DEATH," a Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson said, declining further comment.

The sixth Pennsylvania death has reignited a dispute between state and federal officials over how measles deaths are even being counted. The CDC has confirmed only two measles-associated deaths nationwide this year — a figure that excludes Pennsylvania's own tally of six. Reuters reported that the CDC recently shifted to relying on National Center for Health Statistics mortality data rather than state health department reports for its national death count, a methodology change that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's administration and federal health officials have publicly sparred over.

Health authorities say the surge is concentrated in under-vaccinated communities. FOX 29 Philadelphia reported that Chester County health officials issued a separate exposure warning this month after a contagious patient visited two CVS pharmacies and a supermarket, underscoring how easily the virus is still spreading statewide.

What's next: the state health department says its review of the Franklin County death is ongoing, and officials have not said whether the case will be reclassified once more information is available. With MMR vaccination rates lagging in several rural counties, state epidemiologists say they expect the outbreak — and the case count — to keep climbing into the winter months.