A Lancaster County commissioner has accused Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro of misleadingly presenting two “measles-associated” deaths as deaths caused by measles, amid a widening outbreak. The dispute matters because it concerns how public health officials communicate risk and vaccination advice during an outbreak involving hundreds of confirmed cases.

Shapiro announced that two unvaccinated people had died in cases linked to measles and urged residents to vaccinate, while the state reported 460 confirmed cases across 31 counties. Commissioner Joshua Parsons said the county coroner had recorded no measles deaths; the health department responded that “measles-associated” means measles was confirmed but may not have been the immediate cause of death, and said it had not claimed otherwise.