Coroner confirms measles as cause of death for six-week-old baby in Pennsylvania

<p>A six-week-old baby girl in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, died from measles, the county coroner confirmed to local press on Friday.</p><p>Stephen Diamantoni, a Republican elected coroner in 2007, told Lancaster Online that the baby died at home. "I believe it was the 18th of August," he said.</p><p>He also noted that the baby had a genetic condition called Amish lethal microcephaly, in which babies are born with unusually small heads and underdeveloped brains. The condition is caused by a mutation in the SLC25A19 gene, which codes for a protein involved with energy-producing enzymes in the mitochondria and is thought to be important for brain development. About 1 in 500 babies in the Old Order Amish population of Pennsylvania is born with the condition. Infants with the disorder only survive for about six months.</p>