Reuters · October 14, 2026

U.S. Changes Method for Including Measles Deaths in the National Published Tally

• U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the United States will no longer automatically include state reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of people who died with measles in the national published tally of measles deaths, according to the report.
• Instead, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics will first confirm that measles was identified as an underlying cause of death on a person's death certificate, a process that can take weeks, according to health experts cited in the report.
• For over a century, U.S. state and local health officials have been required to report deaths in people with a measles diagnosis to the federal government, separate from death certificates, according to the report.
• More than 6,300 infections and at least eight fatalities have been reported by state and local officials since early 2025, according to the report.
• The CDC has so far accepted two out of five measles-related deaths reported by U.S. states so far this year, according to the report.
• Leading medical organizations and disease experts cited in the report said the change will delay information and questioned measles death reports; the CDC has also said it was re-evaluating how measles deaths are defined, without explaining the need for the review, according to the report.

Counting method, infection, and fatality figures via the CDC and state and local officials, as cited in the original report. Responses from medical organizations and disease experts are documented in the source, as stated above. This card is based on the accessible portion only. Original headline: "How does the US count measles deaths?".