New York state declared a disaster emergency over the measles outbreak in New York on Monday, and Kathy Hochul temporarily expanded the ability of health professionals to administer MMR vaccines. The declaration stays in place through November 4.
Hochul said, "No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease." As of October 3, New York had recorded 108 cases this year, including 7 cases in New York City and 101 elsewhere in the state.
New York’s 108 Cases
Most of the recent spread has been concentrated since July 15, when 92 cases were recorded in a handful of rural communities with insufficient vaccination rates. The temporary expansion gives the state a faster way to widen vaccine access while the emergency order is active.
The numbers also show how the outbreak is returning in a place where measles had been largely eliminated in the United States by 2000. Health experts have said vaccination rates below 95 percent are not enough to prevent outbreaks, and that threshold helps explain why local spread can take hold even after years of low overall incidence.
PAHO Status in November
The state action comes as outbreaks have also been recorded in Texas, Utah, Ohio and South Carolina, while officials in Pennsylvania said the state has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year. The last outbreak of more than 1,000 cases occurred over several years in New York City in the early 1990s.
PAHO is set to meet in November to decide whether the US and Mexico retain measles-free status. For New Yorkers trying to limit exposure, the immediate change is practical: more health professionals can give MMR shots while the emergency declaration remains in effect through November 4.
