Lancaster County Commissioner: Pennsylvania Won't Share Measles Data, Citizens Want Transparency

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Board Vice Chairman Josh Parsons discusses his effort to get information from the state on two measles-associated deaths announced by Governor Josh Shapiro's administration, including a coroner's finding that contradicts the state's characterization of the first case. Parsons says the county coroner and a forensic pathologist determined that the first reported case, an infant who died during childbirth while infected with measles, was not caused by measles, despite the state announcing both cases as measles-associated deaths. He says the state has not provided demographic or procedural information on either case despite requests, and that the second case remains unidentified; state law requires deaths from contagious disease to be reported to the coroner, which Parsons says has not happened for the second case. Parsons also references a CDC website update stating the agency's national measles count will not include Pennsylvania's two reported deaths while it reviews additional information on cause of death. He addresses Governor Shapiro's comment dismissing questions about the deaths as conspiracy theories, saying he has limited his public statements to documented facts. Parsons also discusses declining vaccination rates in Lancaster County, including among Amish and Mennonite communities, which he attributes in part to distrust stemming from COVID-19 pandemic policies.