Coroner releases details of infants who died amid growing Pennsylvania
measles outbreak
[September 10, 2026]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — The two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania last
month involved infants, and the virus itself caused one of the deaths, a
Pennsylvania coroner confirmed Wednesday.
Lancaster County’s coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said he told the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of his conclusions. CDC
officials, however, have not said whether they will count either death
as measles-associated, and the agency's website still carries a
disclaimer about them.
Ivan Miller died on Aug. 14 shortly after his birth of a ruptured
spleen, Diamantoni said.
Mary Stoltzfus was 6 weeks old when she died Aug. 18 at her home. She
was born with a genetic birth defect that left her highly vulnerable to
an infection. A measles infection killed her, Diamantoni told The
Associated Press.
He said he was releasing the information in response to a state
right-to-know law request by WPMT-TV, Fox 43.
The causes of death differed
Diamantoni's office didn't perform an autopsy on the girl. The cause of
death was determined by the doctors caring for her, he said.
She had been born with a condition called Amish lethal microcephaly that
causes an unusually small head and underdeveloped brain. Children with
the condition typically live 6 months or less.
His office did autopsy the boy, and determined he died from a ruptured
spleen. Exactly how and when that happened is still under investigation,
Diamantoni said.
The boy was infected with measles, which is listed on the death
certificate as a contributing factor. But Diamantoni said measles did
not contribute to what happened to the spleen, and that measles is noted
only because it was considered “a significant condition” that the boy
had at the time of death.
Neither was old enough to be vaccinated; the first dose is typically
given at around 1 year of age.
The deaths have received outsized attention
Details of the deaths have come under unusual national scrutiny and
became the focus of a furious political battle between Pennsylvania's
Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, and officials in Republican President
Donald Trump's administration.
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 Pennsylvania officials announced the
deaths last month, with Shapiro stressing that vaccinations could
have averted the deaths.
Soon after, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump
administration appointee with a history of raising alarms about
established vaccines, attacked Shapiro and suggested the deaths “may
even have been altogether fabricated.”
Kennedy’s statements echoed ones he made last year, when three
measles-related deaths were recorded. Kennedy questioned whether one
of the children who died was killed by measles.
The health secretary oversees the CDC, and some public health
experts have voiced concern about whether the CDC can still be
counted on to post public health data that clashes with Kennedy's
worldview.
“Frankly, the CDC is not to be trusted in sharing information,” Dr.
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health
Association, told the AP last week. “People are questioning their
motives.”
CDC website still doesn't show the deaths
That worry was fueled by some unusual edits to the CDC's measles
webpage. At one point, the webpage noted two measles-associated
deaths but then was changed to say that the CDC was not counting the
two deaths until it reviewed additional information.
The page, which was last updated Friday, now says, “CDC will update
its reporting as additional information becomes available and
relevant reviews are completed.” It still doesn’t reflect either
Pennsylvania death.
In a social media post last week, Kennedy acknowledged Diamantoni's
conclusion that one of the deaths was due to measles.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's measles outbreak continues to expand, with
more than 620 cases across 37 counties this year, state officials
said Wednesday.
The U.S. eliminated the domestic spread of measles in 2000 by
maintaining high vaccination rates, but they have fallen in recent
years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks.
Meanwhile, measles infections have been surging in recent years.
In November, international health officials will meet to determine
if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles-free status.
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