Kathy Hochul declares disaster emergency over measles outbreak in New York

Oct 5, 2026

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on October 5, 2026, following a surge to 108 measles cases, primarily concentrated in under-immunized rural counties. The executive order expands vaccine administration authority to paramedics, midwives, and pharmacists to combat the outbreak. This emergency comes amid a wider national resurgence of nearly 3,900 cases in 2026, including over 1,000 cases and five deaths in neighboring Pennsylvania, threatening the nation's long-held measles-free status.

New York disaster emergency declaration

▪The New York disaster emergency declaration took effect on October 5, 2026, and is scheduled to remain in effect through November 4, 2026.
▪New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on October 5, 2026, in response to a growing measles outbreak in rural areas of the state.

Provisions of the emergency order

▪Governor Kathy Hochul's executive order temporarily expands the pool of health professionals authorized to administer MMR vaccines to include paramedics, advanced EMS providers, midwives, and pharmacists.
▪The New York executive order allows registered nurses to order measles tests and permits pharmacists to vaccinate children as young as two years old.
▪The emergency order mandates that all MMR vaccinations be reported to state or New York City registries within 72 hours, waiving adult consent for this reporting.

Rise in New York measles cases

▪New York recorded 108 confirmed measles cases this year as of October 3, 2026, compared to 48 cases in 2025, 15 cases in 2024, and one case in 2023.
▪Since July 15, 2026, New York has recorded 92 measles cases concentrated in under-immunized rural communities across 18 counties.
▪Of the 108 measles cases recorded in New York as of October 3, 2026, seven cases were located in New York City and 101 were located elsewhere in the state.

County-level case distribution

▪Three counties, including Seneca and Steuben in the Finger Lakes region, account for approximately half of New York State's measles cases in 2026.
▪Otsego County has recorded 20 measles infections since January 2026, the highest case count of any county in New York State.

Declining vaccination rates

▪In Yates County, New York, the childhood measles vaccination rate is approximately 53 percent, and the county has logged three cases in 2026.
▪In the New York counties with the highest measles concentrations, fewer than 80 percent of children had received their first MMR vaccine dose by age two.
▪Health experts state that a 95 percent vaccination rate is required within a community to maintain herd immunity and prevent measles outbreaks.

Pennsylvania measles outbreak

▪Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clashed over whether to classify five deaths as measles-associated or use stricter federal standards.
▪Pennsylvania health officials announced that the state's measles total passed 1,000 cases in 2026, resulting in 198 hospitalizations and five deaths as of October 2, 2026.

National measles outbreak

▪The United States has recorded 3,887 measles cases across 47 states and jurisdictions in 2026 as of October 1, marking the worst year for the disease since 1991.
▪Of the 3,887 measles cases recorded in the United States in 2026, 352 patients, or nine percent, were hospitalized, and the CDC reported two deaths.

National vaccination statistics

▪CDC data shows that nationwide MMR vaccination rates among kindergartners fell to 92.4% in the 2025-2026 school year, down from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year.
▪The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that approximately 95 percent of the measles cases recorded in the United States in 2026 occurred in unvaccinated individuals.

Measles elimination status

▪International officials from the Pan American Health Organization will meet in November 2026 to determine whether the United States and Mexico will retain their measles-free status.
▪The United States officially eliminated the domestic spread of measles in 2000, more than a quarter century before the current resurgence of the disease.

Debatable claims

▪New York should allow religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates
▪Permitting pharmacists to vaccinate toddlers as young as two years old compromises pediatric safety
▪Waiving adult consent to report vaccinations to state registries is a justified public health measure
▪New York's measles outbreak justifies a statewide disaster emergency declaration