New York has invoked a statewide disaster emergency amid rising measles cases, expanding vaccination powers to curb transmission, especially in rural and under-immunised areas, as the US faces its worst measles year since 1991.
New York has declared a statewide disaster emergency over a measles outbreak, giving health officials broader powers to slow transmission as cases continue to rise, according to reporting by Reuters and other outlets on Tuesday. Governor Kathy Hochul said the move was intended to strengthen the state’s response and protect residents in under-immunised areas, especially rural communities where the virus has spread most quickly.
The emergency order expands the range of health workers who can administer the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and makes it easier for more clinicians to arrange testing for suspected cases. According to the governor’s office, New York had recorded 108 measles cases this year by 3 October, with 92 of them reported since 15 July in communities across 18 counties where vaccination coverage has lagged. Officials said seven cases were in New York City and the rest elsewhere in the state.
Health departments have already stepped up vaccination efforts, with local teams administering more than 1,000 MMR doses in rural areas since mid-July, according to the state’s figures cited by Insurance Journal. The order also tightens reporting requirements for vaccinations and gives public health staff more room to move quickly as they trace contacts and respond to new infections.
The outbreak comes amid a wider regional resurgence. Pennsylvania, which borders New York, has reported more than 1,000 measles cases and five measles-related deaths this year, according to state health officials cited by several reports. The state’s total has been described as its largest outbreak in more than three decades, and the US is having its worst measles year since 1991, with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reporting nearly 3,900 cases nationwide, according to Insurance Journal. Public health experts say the rebound underscores how quickly measles can spread when vaccination rates fall, even though the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000.
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