Fifth measles death in Pennsylvania; frozen berries recalled across 30 states: Health risk update, Sep. 26–Oct. 2, 2026

From September 26 through October 2, 2026, Pennsylvania recorded a fifth measles-associated death and raised its confirmed case count to 977, the largest measles outbreak in the United States this year. The state's October 2 update listed 977 cases across 39 counties, 195 hospitalizations, and five deaths. 1 The fifth death, an unvaccinated Lancaster County resident, was reported on September 30. 2

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo passed 8,000 confirmed cases. CDC counted 8,224 confirmed cases and 3,982 confirmed deaths in the DRC as of September 29, and it calls this the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record worldwide. 3

The week's clearest household action is a freezer check. A Chilean grower expanded its recall of frozen organic berries sold at Walmart and Trader Joe's, adding lots whose best-by dates run into 2028. 4

Every count in this issue is built from report dates. A rise between two weekly updates shows when cases were confirmed and entered into the surveillance system, and the infections behind them began earlier.

CDC reported 3,887 confirmed measles cases in the United States for 2026 as of October 1, up from 3,659 a week earlier. Ninety-five percent of those cases belong to one of 42 outbreaks, and 18 were in international visitors. 12 The hospitalization rate is 9%, or 352 of 3,887 cases, and children under 5 are hospitalized at the highest rate of any age group, 14%. 12

The death counts diverge for a reason readers can check. CDC lists 2 measles deaths for 2026 and marks the figure as subject to change while it works with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists on a standard definition. 12 Pennsylvania counts five under its own rule: a confirmed measles-associated death is one that occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in a person with clinical evidence of measles and a positive laboratory test, and that was caused by measles rather than something unrelated. 13 The two agencies are counting deaths inside the same outbreak under different definitions and different reporting deadlines. Utah, whose outbreak has gone quiet, reported 527 cases in 2026 and none in the previous three weeks as of September 29. 14

The Ebola count has three cutoffs. CDC's page uses the Congolese ministry's September 29 figures and adds cases recorded in Uganda and France, for 8,245 confirmed cases and 3,984 confirmed deaths across the three countries. 3 By comparison, the outbreak carried 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths in WHO's September 23 bulletin, which remains the most recent WHO update. 15 The gap between them reflects the five days between the two report dates.

On the food side, the frozen-blueberry E. coli O145:H28 outbreak that began in July was declared over on September 21, with 17 cases, six hospitalizations, and no deaths in Florida and Georgia. 16 The recall built around it kept growing after the outbreak closed, which is why the October 2 expansion reaches states that never reported a case. FDA has added frozen blueberries from the Chilean grower to an import alert, so shipments from that firm can be detained at the border without physical examination. 16

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed cases in seven provinces: Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshopo. 3 This is the country's 17th Ebola outbreak, and it crossed 1,000 confirmed cases within 40 days of response activation. The 2018 DRC outbreak took about 235 days to reach the same mark. 3

Uganda's outbreak stayed quiet, with 21 confirmed and probable cases and three deaths, the last case confirmed June 21. France has reported one case. 3 No Ebola cases linked to this outbreak have been confirmed in the United States, and CDC rates the likelihood of spread into the country as very low. 3 Bundibugyo virus has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, so control rests on finding cases quickly, isolating and treating patients, tracing contacts, and conducting safe burials. 15

One travel notice moved during the window. CDC's global dengue notice, reviewed October 2, is a Level 1 alert listing 15 destinations with higher-than-usual dengue activity or an elevated number of cases among returning U.S. travelers: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Panama, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. 11 The list has turned over since the notice's July review, which named New Caledonia, Samoa, and Tonga instead of Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, and Marshall Islands. Travelers should use an EPA-registered repellent, wear long sleeves and pants outdoors, and sleep in a screened or air-conditioned room.

The Ebola notice levels held: Level 4 for Ituri and Nord-Kivu, Level 3 for Haut-Uélé and Tshopo, and Level 2 for the rest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and for Uganda. 17 Every other CDC travel notice carries a review date earlier than September 26.

U.S. vaccine schedules held steady this week. CDC's immunization recommendations page still lists the seasonal influenza and RSV actions of July and August 2025 as its most recent adopted recommendations, and the routine child, adolescent, and adult schedules stand as published. 18

Beyond the frozen berries, the broccoli seed, the pasta, the compounded glutathione, and the peperoncini, FDA's recall portal carries the raw-milk cheese recall that opened the previous week; the product is still on the market's shelves and in some home freezers, and the advisory stands as published. 19

FDA's outbreak table shows a new Listeria monocytogenes investigation, reference 1415, added September 30 with 11 cases and no product identified yet. Two other counts moved: the E. coli O157:H7 investigation, reference 1421, rose from 25 to 38 cases, and the Listeria investigation, reference 1417, rose from 40 to 44. Two investigations closed — the Clostridium botulinum probe linked to powdered infant formula, and the Salmonella Enteritidis probe linked to eggs. 20 The Salmonella Bovismorbificans outbreak tied to Evergreen Fresh Sprouts broccoli sprouts held at 32 cases and three hospitalizations in six states, with the last illness beginning September 3. 21 The October 2 broccoli seed recall traces to the same FDA sprout investigation: the seller's seed supplier told the company that a lot had been used by a sprout grower under investigation, and FDA later found Salmonella in a sample of the seed. 5

This week's CDC journal carries three items for clinical and public-health teams. The first is a fatal case of pneumonic plague in Coconino County, Arizona, in July 2025 — the state's first pneumonic plague death since 2007. A young adult man with occupational exposure to two ill indoor cats died less than eight hours after admission; blood cultures were initially misidentified before mass spectrometry and Gram stain raised suspicion of plague, and 46 potentially exposed household members, coworkers, and hospital staff began a seven-day course of oral ciprofloxacin before laboratory confirmation. None of the 46 contacts became ill. Clinicians in areas where plague is endemic should consider it in patients with severe respiratory and systemic illness who have been around sick animals, especially cats. 22

The second is an early-release report on Cladophialophora bantiana, a mold that causes brain abscesses and kills 60% to 70% of the people it infects. One clinical reference laboratory detected 48 confirmed cases and one probable case between 2009 and July 2026, and its detection rate rose roughly fourfold from 2023 to 2025, to 26 cases per 1,000 brain and spinal specimens submitted for fungal testing. The cases came from 21 states and the District of Columbia, and half of the patients had no known immune-weakening condition. The cause of the rise is unknown; the report asks clinicians to consider the mold in patients with signs of a brain abscess and to consider surgical excision alongside combination antifungal therapy. 23

The third is a readiness check. In 73 unannounced drills with patient actors across emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and urgent care centers in New Jersey, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, a simulated avian influenza A(H5) patient was masked and isolated in 44 drills, or 60%. The median time from arrival to masking was two minutes and to isolation 11 minutes, against targets of one and 10. Clinicians wore all recommended protective equipment in 25% of the drills and none in 6%. 24

Check the freezer first for the recalled Great Value and Trader Joe's organic berries, then the pantry for the broccoli sprouting seeds and the bettergoods fettuccine. Anyone who has compounded glutathione injections on hand should set them aside and call the recall line. Pennsylvania households should confirm two MMR doses, and anyone with a fever and rash should telephone before walking into a clinic. Travelers to the 15 dengue destinations should pack repellent; travelers who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan should plan around the 21-day entry rules. Clinicians get three reminders from this week's journal: consider plague in severe respiratory illness after animal exposure, consider Cladophialophora bantiana in a suspected brain abscess, and rehearse masking and isolation at the front door, where the drills show the time is lost.