New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency in response to an ongoing measles outbreak, marking the first such declaration by a state since cases began surging in 2025.
Hochul said her Oct. 5 executive order declaring the emergency would let the state respond more quickly and allow healthcare professionals to take additional measures to increase vaccination and testing.
As of Oct. 3, New York had recorded 108 measles cases this year, including seven in New York City and 101 elsewhere in the state, according to the governor’s office.
The order allows nurses to order testing and expands the pool of healthcare professionals that are authorized to administer measles vaccines to include paramedics, advanced emergency medical service providers, pharmacists, and midwives.
“After reviewing the latest data on measles cases in New York State, I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to confront this disease,” the governor said in a statement. “No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease.”
Hochul also said she had received her seasonal flu shot and urged New Yorkers to do the same.
Her office said that since July 15, at least 92 measles cases had been reported in rural communities across 18 counties with low vaccination rates.
To address the outbreak, local health departments have administered more than 1,000 doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to residents across the state’s rural areas, it added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 285 measles cases in 2024 and 2,289 cases in 2025. Measles is an airborne disease that spreads when an infected person sneezes or coughs. This disease can cause complications, including diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, and in some cases, death, according to the CDC.
The agency said that two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine provide 97 percent protection against the highly contagious disease.
Hochul’s executive order also cited cases in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, which it stated has been “experiencing a rapidly progressing measles outbreak with 977 cases and five deaths” reported as of Oct. 2 in rural counties bordering New York.
Pennsylvania has confirmed 1,004 measles cases across 39 counties in 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said on Oct. 5, making it the state with the most reported cases. The department said four of those patients, or less than one percent, had been vaccinated.
Currently, the CDC has confirmed measles in 47 U.S. jurisdictions, including South Carolina, Utah, and Texas. Pennsylvania has recorded five measles-associated deaths in 2026, the state’s Department of Health said in a Sept. 30 statement.
In 2025, three measles deaths were reported in unvaccinated individuals: two in Texas and one in New Mexico.
The World Health Organization said the disease can affect anyone but is most common among children. The agency estimated that about 95,000 people have died from measles in 2024; most of them were children under the age of 5.
Kimberly Hayek and Reuters contributed to this report.
