(AP) – A Pennsylvania woman died from complications tied to measles, the third death in the state linked to the virus so far this year.
The 40-year-old woman died on Saturday, according to Jefferson County coroner Greg Furlong, who announced the death on Facebook, calling it measles-related.
The post did not identify the woman, only noting she was a resident of Jefferson County, a rural area about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Pittsburgh.
“It is a heartbreaking loss for the family and a sadly timely reminder that measles can be a serious, potentially deadly disease,” Furlong said in the post.
He did not indicate whether the woman had been vaccinated against measles. He also noted that no further information about the case would be released.
The two prior measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania involved infants. Both occurred last month, and a coroner stated that the virus was responsible for deaths in both cases.
One baby, a boy, died shortly after birth from a ruptured spleen. He had measles, but the virus did not contribute to the rupture, according to Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni.
Instead, measles was listed as a “significant condition” at the time of death.
The other infant—a six-week-old girl born with a genetic defect that left her highly susceptible to infections—died from measles, Diamantoni told The Associated Press.
The victim was born with a condition known as Amish lethal microcephaly, which causes an unusually small head and an underdeveloped brain. Children with this condition typically survive no more than six months.
The first dose of the measles vaccine is usually administered around a baby’s first birthday, meaning neither of the two infants was old enough to be vaccinated.
Pennsylvania had recorded up to Friday 676 measles cases across 37 of the state’s 67 counties. Of those cases, 124 required hospitalization, and four involved people who had been vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The three death counts reported by state and local officials did not align with figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which did not show deaths of that kind this year.
“The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) does not presently have any 2026 death record indicating that measles was the underlying cause,” according to the CDC’s website.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and the Trump administration have clashed over details of the two earlier deaths in the state.
