Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency Oct. 5 in response to a growing measles outbreak in rural New York and neighboring states. The executive order lets the state respond more quickly and expands who can administer measles vaccines and order testing.
Here are five things to know:
- Paramedics, advanced EMS providers, midwives and pharmacists can now administer measles vaccines, and nurses can order testing in addition to physicians. State Health Commissioner James McDonald, MD, urged providers to be ready to diagnose and treat measles cases and asked New Yorkers to check their vaccination status.
- New York had confirmed 108 measles cases this year as of Oct. 3, seven in New York City and 101 in the rest of the state. When the health department first warned of rising rural cases Aug. 24, the state had 29. Since July 15, 92 cases have been reported among under-immunized rural communities in 18 counties, and local health departments have given more than 1,000 MMR doses in those areas.
- The executive order comes as neighboring Pennsylvania passed 1,000 cases. The state health department confirmed 1,004 measles cases across 39 counties as of Oct. 5, up from 943 when it reported its fifth measles death last week. Twenty-seven of the cases were reported since Oct. 2. Of the total, 198 people have been hospitalized, nearly 20%, and five have died. Four cases occurred in vaccinated people, less than 1% of the total.
- The Pennsylvania outbreak produced the nation’s first measles deaths of 2026, two children in Lancaster County in August, followed by deaths in Jefferson County and Mifflin County and, most recently, a third in Lancaster County. The CDC has raised its 2026 measles death count to two but has not said where they occurred, and the agency is working with state epidemiologists on a standard definition after counting fewer deaths than Pennsylvania did.
- Nationally, the CDC had confirmed 3,887 measles cases as of Oct. 1, about 70% more than the 2,289 cases reported in all of 2025.
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