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WaPo: County Coroner Confirms First Infant Death From Measles in Amish County; Shapiro Pounces

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  8:00 PM on September 05, 2026

As Twitchy reported last month, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is almost certainly eyeing a 2028 run, did some fearmongering when he claimed that two newborns had died from measles. The narrative, of course, is that President Donald Trump is to blame for the measles outbreak and the infants' deaths by appointing "anti-vaxxer" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his administration. 

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The Lancaster County coroner performed an autopsy and confirmed that the infant died of a ruptured spleen, not measles. A reporter asked Shapiro, with so much misinformation and confusion floating around, why he wasn't more specific and transparent about that case. Not surprisingly, Shapiro didn't want to address that, saying he didn't think "it serves the interest of public health … for me to get into a back and forth about conspiracy theories showing up online."

On Friday, The Washington Post reported that an infant from the Amish community in Lancaster County had died from measles.

What's that?

Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein report:

The 6-week-old died Aug. 18 at home, after being in palliative care at home soon after birth. The infant was born with a rare genetic condition that is not generally found outside the Amish community, Amish lethal microcephaly, he said. Most babies with that condition live only four to six months, he said.

“They often die of respiratory illness, and as a result of respiratory illness and low oxygen as a result of the measles infection, having Amish lethal microcephaly made the child very susceptible to severe illness and death,” said Diamantoni, a Republican family doctor first elected coroner in 2007.

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They even felt the need to report that the coroner is a Republican for some reason. Is it possible people like Shapiro are trying to politicize the measles outbreak?

As in the previous story, people noted that a 6-week-old wouldn't have had the measles vaccine anyway.

Here's Shapiro on Friday, giddy over the headline, trying to place the blame on Kennedy:

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The post continues:

… deaths, and even accuse me of fabricating these tragedies. That led to a firestorm of conspiracy theories that denied these families’ pain, invaded their privacy, and undermined public health.

It’s long past time for RFK to stop playing games with people’s lives, report these deaths accurately on the CDC dashboard, and heed the guidance of actual medical experts so people get accurate information to discuss with their trusted health care providers and can best protect themselves and their children against this deadly disease.

"Accuse me of fabricating these tragedies." The first infant Shapiro said died from measles actually died from a ruptured spleen, and Shapiro doubled down on it when called out by a reporter.

Kennedy responded:

The post continues:

…  Coroner has now publicly stated that measles caused only the second infant’s death and has also publicly stated that the infant had Amish lethal microcephaly, a rare genetic condition in which infants typically live only about six months, received palliative care continuously from birth, and died at approximately two months of age. The Coroner continues to state publicly that the first infant died from a lacerated spleen, not measles.

The National Center for Health Statistics does not currently have any death records from 2026 that indicate measles is the underlying cause but will update as it receives and reviews submitted records. CDC will continue to update its reporting as additional information becomes available and relevant reviews are completed.

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You certainly don't vaccinate a newborn.

It's really sick how Shapiro pounced on two alleged measles deaths. As the poster above said, it was a political cudgel he could use against Kennedy and the Trump administration. And he continues to double down.

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