A 40-year-old Jefferson County woman who died on September 12 had an active measles infection at the time of her death, the county coroner's office said on the evening of September 14, giving her case the laboratory evidence it had been missing. Coroner Greg Furlong confirmed that lab tests came back positive for measles, CBS News Pittsburgh reported. The unvaccinated woman, who had serious lung disease, had declined a measles test while she was alive, and a nasal swab taken at her death tested positive, NBC News reported.
The result matters beyond one family. Her husband also showed signs of measles but was not tested, Furlong told The Washington Post. He has since recovered, according to CBS. Illness that never reaches a lab is not counted as a confirmed case, and untested cases in a household can leave health departments with an incomplete picture of where the virus is spreading.
