New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- Pennsylvania's measles outbreak has exposed a sharp conflict between state and federal public-health authorities. Four county coroners have attributed deaths to measles or measles complications, while the CDC is officially counting none.

unless the CDC publicly accounts for the four deaths disputed by the administration, Pennsylvania will withdraw the request.

The standoff is therefore about more than the deployment itself. It concerns who controls the official record of an outbreak-and whether federal assistance can be accepted when the state believes the federal government is misrepresenting its human cost.

The state's outbreak stood at 792 confirmed cases across 39 counties as of Monday, according to the Penns...