Worst Measles Year Since 1991: Pennsylvania Tops 1,000 Cases as New York's Statewide Emergency Grinds On
Nearly 3,900 measles cases have hit the U.S. this year, the most since the disease was nearly declared eliminated three decades ago, with Pennsylvania's outbreak now the largest in any single state since the early 1990s.
Pennsylvania's measles outbreak has passed 1,000 cases, state health officials confirmed this week, making it the largest outbreak experienced by any U.S. state in more than three decades as New York's statewide disaster emergency over the disease remains in effect.
Pennsylvania has recorded 1,004 cases since the outbreak began in April west of Philadelphia, with nearly 200 hospitalizations and five deaths, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia. Most of the cases have clustered in under-immunized rural communities. Health officials believe the true total is an undercount, since many residents are reluctant to speak with health department investigators.
The last time a single state recorded a comparable outbreak was in the early 1990s, when New York City logged roughly 4,500 cases over several years. South Carolina's outbreak, at 997 cases, sits just behind Pennsylvania's.
New York's Emergency Order
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Oct. 5 under Executive Order No. 65, which runs through Nov. 4 and covers the entire state. As of early October, New York had logged 108 cases this year, with 92 of those concentrated in under-immunized rural communities across 18 counties since mid-July.
The order widens who can administer MMR shots, adding paramedics, advanced EMS providers, pharmacists and midwives to the list, and lets pharmacists vaccinate children as young as 2. It also requires all MMR vaccinations be reported to state or New York City immunization registries within 72 hours, waiving adult consent for that reporting requirement.
Nationally, the U.S. has recorded nearly 3,900 measles cases this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the country's worst year for the disease since 1991, before it was declared eliminated domestically in 2000.
Federal and state health officials continue to urge MMR vaccination as the outbreaks in Pennsylvania, New York and South Carolina show no clear sign of slowing heading into the fall respiratory illness season.