New York declares first US measles disaster emergency since 2025 surge

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/File

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Monday over a measles outbreak, the first such declaration by a U.S. state since cases ​began surging in 2025.

The state also expanded the pool of health professionals ​allowed to administer measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines as cases rise in rural communities.

New York has reported 108 measles cases this year through October 3, ​including 92 since July 15 in under-immunized rural communities across 18 counties, well above typical annual levels, according to the executive order.

Seven of the cases are in New York City and 101 ​are elsewhere in the state, the governor’s office said. Local health departments have administered ​more than 1,000 MMR doses in rural areas since July 15.

Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. For the quarter century that followed, there were an average of just 180 measles cases per year nationwide, federal data shows.

But measles started to make an historic resurgence in 2025, and the outbreak in New York is far from the largest the US has seen in the past two years. There were at least 762 cases associated with an outbreak in West Texas last year, and an outbreak in South Carolina reached nearly 1,000 cases before it was declared over in April.

Neighboring Pennsylvania is battling a fast-spreading ‌outbreak, ⁠with 977 cases and five deaths as of October 2, mostly in rural counties that border New York, the order said.

Pennsylvania health officials said on Monday the state’s total had passed 1,000 cases, making it the largest state outbreak in more than ​three decades.

The US ​is having its ⁠worst year for measles since 1991, with nearly 3,900 cases reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The order ​allows registered nurses to order tests for suspected measles and pharmacists ​to vaccinate ⁠children as young as two. It also requires all MMR vaccinations to be reported to state or New York City immunization registries within 72 hours, while waiving adults’ ⁠consent for ​such reporting.

Vaccination itself still requires the consent of ​the patient or a legal guardian. The emergency took effect on Monday and runs through November 4.

CNN’s Deidre McPhillips contributed to this story.

Shannon Stapleton/路透社/档案照片

纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔周一宣布全州进入灾难紧急状态，原因是麻疹疫情爆发。这是自 2025 年麻疹病例开始激增以来，美国各州首次宣布进入此类紧急状态。

随着农村地区麻疹、腮腺炎、风疹 (MMR) 疫苗病例的增加，该州还扩大了获准接种 MMR 疫苗的卫生专业人员范围。

根据行政命令，截至 10 月 3 日，纽约州今年已报告 108 例麻疹病例，其中 92 例发生在 7 月 15 日以来，这些病例均发生在 18 个县的免疫接种率较低的农村社区，远高于往年的正常水平。

州长办公室表示，新增病例中有7例在纽约市，其余101例在纽约州其他地区。自7月15日以来，地方卫生部门已在农村地区接种了1000多剂麻疹、腮腺炎、风疹疫苗。

2000 年，美国宣布消除麻疹。联邦数据显示，在随后的四分之一世纪里，全国平均每年只有 180 例麻疹病例。

但麻疹在2025年开始出现历史性的反弹，而纽约的疫情远非美国近两年来规模最大的一次。去年西德克萨斯州爆发的疫情至少有762例病例，南卡罗来纳州的疫情在4月份宣布结束前也达到了近1000例。

该命令称，邻近的宾夕法尼亚州正在与快速蔓延的疫情作斗争，截至 10 月 2 日，已有 977 例病例和 5 例死亡，主要集中在与纽约接壤的农村县。

宾夕法尼亚州卫生官员周一表示，该州累计病例已超过 1000 例，成为三十多年来该州疫情最严重的一次。

据美国疾病控制与预防中心称，美国今年的麻疹疫情是自 1991 年以来最严重的一年，报告病例近 3900 例。

该命令允许注册护士为疑似麻疹患者开具检测单，并允许药剂师为两岁及以上的儿童接种疫苗。该命令还要求所有麻疹、腮腺炎、风疹 (MMR) 疫苗接种情况必须在 72 小时内上报至州或纽约市免疫登记处，同时免除成年人对此类上报的同意。

接种疫苗仍需获得患者本人或其法定监护人的同意。紧急状态于周一生效，并将持续至11月4日。

CNN的迪尔德丽·麦克菲利普斯对本文亦有贡献。