Agency declines to reveal in which state latest measles death occurred as it delays reporting other measles deaths

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added a third measles death to its dashboard on Wednesday, but the agency would not reveal whether the death occurred in Pennsylvania or another state – which is “notable” as the agency delays reporting other measles deaths, experts say.

The CDC cited privacy laws in not sharing the name of the state, but experts say there are no privacy concerns in doing so – and this information is important for the public to have as the outbreak continues accelerating, growing by 8% in one week to 4,410 confirmed cases so far this year, nearly double last year’s count.

“I don’t buy it,” said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC Law San Francisco. “Naming a state won’t be giving personal details, and they give the number of cases in each state,” she said, adding there was “nothing to prevent giving numbers of deaths in each”.

The CDC is not governed by Hipaa as health providers are. The agency is instead guided by the Federal Privacy Act, which usually prohibits disclosing government records about specific individuals, said Lindsay Wiley, professor of law and faculty director of the Health Law and Policy Program at UCLA Law.