New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency Monday as measles cases hit 108 in the state this year — up from a single case in 2023 — granting herself expanded powers to broaden who can vaccinate and test for a disease America eliminated in 2000.
The U.S. is now experiencing its worst measles year since 1991, with nearly 3,900 cases reported nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Five people have died in Pennsylvania, where 977 cases have been reported. A disease this country vanquished through high vaccination rates is back, and the officials now demanding emergency powers are furiously spinning over why — and even how many people it has killed.
Hochul's executive order allows pharmacists to vaccinate children as young as 2 and registered nurses to order tests for suspected measles. It also requires all MMR vaccinations be reported to state immunization registries within 72 hours, waiving adult consent for such reporting. "No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease," Hochul said in a statement.
What Hochul didn't say is how measles returned. The Guardian attributed the outbreak to undervaccination in Amish communities in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, noting that "undervaccination has been a driving factor in measles spreading after its domestic US spread had been eliminated in 2000." New York state senator Gustavo Rivera, who chairs the senate's health committee, blamed "a decrease in childhood vaccines driven by misinformation." Fox News noted the cases are "centered in rural communities." Neither outlet pressed Hochul on whether broader failures of public health infrastructure or border policy played a role in importing or accelerating the spread.
The real fight is over the death count. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who headlined an anti-vaccine conference in Washington in mid-September, telling attendees they had a "strong and steadfast friend at the White House" — has claimed measles deaths may have been "fabricated" after a coroner raised questions. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has called Kennedy "incompetent," and a Pennsylvania commissioner has accused Shapiro of "deceptive" framing of the measles deaths. The Guardian buried the death-classification dispute; Fox News led with it.
The stakes are plain. Measles is among the most contagious viruses on earth. Data shows it can be fatal in one to three patients per 1,000 cases. Nearly 20% of those who contract it are hospitalized. It causes pneumonia and brain swelling. At least 95% of a community must be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks. The Philadelphia health department has been working to administer preventative antibodies to exposed infants.
A disease this country beat is back. The governor wants emergency powers. The health secretary and the neighboring governor are at war over the body count. Nobody in power is answering the foundational question: how did a eradicated pathogen walk back into the country, and who let the door open?
