Did Measles Kill Two Pennsylvanians—or Not?

For a week, the federal government and the state of Pennsylvania have been embroiled in a fight over whether a measles outbreak killed two state residents, leading to countless articles asking, among other questions, if a mother’s measles can cause a fatal lacerated spleen in an infant (the answer: unlikely).

Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is insisting on reviewing the two cases before it agrees the deaths were measles-related, provoking a new round of questions about whether the CDC should be second-guessing the state’s report (the answer: yes).

Yet nobody has asked the most crucial question of all: Why did the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, hold a press conference to announce these deaths?

To put it another way: Why is every measles death now national news? Using a press conference to alert a population of a measles outbreak makes sense. Residents should know if they’ve been exposed, especially if they’re unvaccinated.

Announcing individual measles deaths is pure political and public health theater.