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Health47 outlets ran this2 min read

CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation

Federal health agency omits two reported deaths pending further review, following a political dispute.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation

What this story says

  • The CDC has excluded two measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania from its latest weekly update.
  • CDC Director Erica Schwartz ordered the exclusion while the agency investigates the deaths.
  • The dispute follows a public disagreement between RFK Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
  • The CDC's latest measles case count stands at 2,903.

Who covered it

Left 35%(13)Centre 43%(16)Right 22%(8)

Percentages are shares of the 37 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 10 of the 47 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

50/100

Craft

55/100

Hype

45/100

47 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 8 of the 37 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Pennsylvania officials confirmed two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has excluded these deaths from its latest weekly measles update, stating the exclusion is pending further investigation. CDC Director Erica Schwartz ordered the exclusion. The CDC's latest national measles case count was reported as 2,903.

Disagreement over Pennsylvania measles deaths

Pennsylvania officials reported two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County. The CDC, however, excluded these from its weekly update, citing ongoing investigation. The agency's decision followed a public dispute between RFK Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. The CDC reported 70 hospitalizations and hundreds of measles infections in Lancaster County.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention the specific number of hospitalisations or infections in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, details that were present in some right-rated digests.

Tags:#CDC#Measles#Pennsylvania#PublicHealth#RFKJr

Coverage settled. We checked this 17 times and stopped on 6 Sept 2026, 22:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

13 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports focused on the CDC's exclusion of the two Pennsylvania measles deaths from its weekly update, often highlighting the unusual nature of the decision. Several reports noted that CDC Director Erica Schwartz ordered the exclusion. The dispute was frequently linked to a public spat between RFK Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, with some outlets describing RFK Jr.'s remarks as 'fabricated' or 'anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist' rhetoric. Reports mentioned the CDC's latest measles case count of 2,903 and Pennsylvania's 70 hospitalizations and hundreds of infections in Lancaster County.

Centre

16 rated outlets

  • All twelve centre outlets in the sample reported that the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention excluded two measles‑related deaths from Pennsylvania from its weekly tally. CTV News led on the exclusion, noting it was ordered by the new CDC director Erica Schwartz. Hastings Tribune, Political Wire, Medical Daily and the remaining outlets also led on this fact.
  • CTV News’s full report added that Pennsylvania health officials said they had completed a thorough investigation and provided all required epidemiological data to the CDC. It quoted HHS press secretary Grace Davis Jamison on the need for accurate reporting, and CDC experts Dr Nirav Shah and Dr Deb Houry on the unusual nature of the decision and its departure from standard protocol.
  • The digests did not contain any of the quoted statements from Pennsylvania officials, HHS, or CDC experts that appear in CTV News’s report. They also omitted the CDC footnote explaining that the deaths were excluded pending further information and the detailed description of the agency’s usual practice of accepting state‑reported data. No digest mentioned the broader political clash beyond a brief reference.

Right

8 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports focused on the CDC's exclusion of the Pennsylvania measles deaths from its weekly update, with some framing it as an omission pending investigation. One report mentioned that Pennsylvania authorities reported two deaths from measles, and that both patients were unvaccinated. This report also stated that measles was reportedly ravaging Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where 70 people had been hospitalised and hundreds infected, and noted the CDC's reported 2,777 cases nationwide at the time. Another report discussed Governor Josh Shapiro's claims about vaccination rates falling under President Trump, contrasting them with data from his own state.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation?
Of the 37 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 35% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 22% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 47. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 37 rated outlets on this story, 35% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 22% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation biased?
CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation is one event reported by 47 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered CDC Excludes Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Amid Investigation?
47 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why did the CDC exclude two measles deaths from Pennsylvania?
The CDC excluded two measles-associated deaths reported by Pennsylvania from its weekly update because the agency is conducting a further investigation into the cause of these deaths. CDC Director Erica Schwartz ordered the exclusion pending the outcome of this review.
What is the latest measles case count?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest measles update reported a total of 2,903 cases nationwide. This figure represents the national tally of confirmed measles infections.
Was there a political element to the exclusion of the deaths?
Yes, the exclusion followed a public dispute between RFK Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Several reports indicated that the disagreement over the nature of the deaths was politically charged.

Read it at the source

96 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

29
Show 21 more

Centre

36
Show 28 more

Right

18
Show 10 more

Not rated

13
Show 5 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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