Wisconsin infant dies of measles, the state's first measles death since 1990

The death and the state's response

Wisconsin's Department of Health Services announced on Thursday, 5 November, that an infant in southwestern Wisconsin had died after contracting measles. The coroner listed measles as the cause of death. The department did not say where the death happened and withheld further details to protect the family's privacy. It is the state's first measles death since 1990, a gap of 36 years.

Kirsten Johnson, the state health secretary, opened her statement by saying her heart was broken for the family.

“Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease.”

Wisconsin's outbreak

As of Thursday, Wisconsin had recorded 431 measles cases, and all but three of the people infected had not received the measles vaccine. Nine people had been hospitalized. The outbreak began in the summer and now spans 13 counties, with the state reporting its largest surge in more than 35 years. Officials warned that the true number of infections may be higher, because some people with measles never seek medical care or get tested. The measles vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing infection. State health authorities urged residents to get vaccinated, pointing to the highest caseload in decades.

National picture and New York

The CDC has confirmed four measles-associated deaths in the United States this year, but state health departments have reported higher numbers. Pennsylvania has reported five deaths this year and is investigating a possible sixth. Earlier in the week of 2 November, a child died of measles in New York, the first such death there in more than 30 years. At the start of November, New York declared a state of emergency after more than 100 people were infected within a week. The CDC counted 4,852 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026 as of 29 October, while the United States recorded 2,289 cases across all of 2025.

Why measles spreads and the vaccination gap

Measles is one of the most contagious infections in the world. Most infections are mild, but serious complications can occur and can be fatal. The virus sits in the throat of an infected person, and droplets released when that person coughs or sneezes can linger in the air. Infants under 12 months are among those most often infected. The CDC recorded just three measles deaths nationwide from 2001 through 2022. The disease was declared no longer continuously spreading in the United States in 2000, a status that depended on high vaccination coverage. That coverage has now dropped below the 95 percent level needed to prevent outbreaks.

Policy criticism

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US health secretary, has repeatedly voiced doubts about vaccines. According to 7sur7, he has spread false claims about vaccines and pushed a sweeping overhaul of US vaccine policy despite opposition from most doctors and scientists. New York's governor attributed the rising infections in her state to Trump administration policy, which she said had undermined trust in vaccines.