Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of disaster emergency Monday in response to the measles outbreak across rural areas of New York.
The declaration comes as Steuben County reported its 17th case on Tuesday.
Health departments in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions have seen pockets of measles cases erupt since August.
“After reviewing the latest data on measles cases in New York State, I am declaring a state disaster emergency,” said Gov. Hochul in a press release. “No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease.”
Hochul declared a state of emergency to expand the number of health professionals who can administer the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine to include paramedics, advanced EMS providers, midwives and pharmacists.
The order affords the flexibility for nurses to order measles testing as well.
Other resources include access to additional support for local health departments to help with measles testing and investigations.
There are 105 confirmed cases in upstate New York counties, as of the New York measles dashboard data from Oct. 6 and Steuben County’s three new cases as of its Oct. 6 dashboard. New York City data shows seven confirmed measles cases as of Oct. 2.
Steuben County’s full dashboard shows 17 total confirmed cases reported since Aug. 18. All reported cases in Steuben County are in unvaccinated people.
The Steuben County dashboard is updated everyday after 2 p.m.
The county with the highest number of cases in the region, however, is Otsego County. The state measles dashboard shows Otsego has reported 20 cases to date.
Outside of Otsego, the majority of cases are concentrated between Steuben, Allegany, Yates, Ontario, Wayne and Seneca counties.
The New York State measles dashboard is updated every Tuesday and displays cases through the previous Saturday.
Between the six counties there are more than 50 cases reported as of this week. Allegany County officials said one case listed is a duplicate case from the electronic laboratory system and they will not remove it from the reporting unless instructed to do so by health professionals.
Allegany County borders Steuben to the west, while Yates and Ontario counties border Steuben to the north.
Chemung County also confirmed one case of the virus on Sept. 14.
Information available to the public about geographic locations, age, gender, hospitalizations, and residency, or whether the patient is vaccinated or was travelling when they contracted the virus, remains scattered and inconsistent between health departments. Some officials claim privacy concerns as the reason.
Local public health departments are conducting contact tracing and notifying anyone who may have been exposed.
Some confirmed cases in Steuben County are connected, according to county officials.
It is unclear whether cases throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions are connected to one another.
In Allegany County, health officials have identified some cases are connected. Additionally, a “potential common exposure link associated with horse auctions, as well as recent travel within New York State and out-of-state to both Ohio and Pennsylvania” are also possibly connected. However, there are no further details.
Pennsylvania is reporting more than 1,000 confirmed cases this year and five deaths associated with the measles virus.
Pennsylvania’s measles information is updated three times per week.
The Northern Tier of Pennsylvania is now reporting 29 confirmed measles cases on its statewide dashboard.
Officials say the best way to protect yourself from the virus is to have two doses of the MMR vaccine. It is 97 percent effective.
According to the New York State Department of Health, vaccination rates in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes are as follows: Chemung County is 74.8%, Steuben County is 79.1%, Allegany County is 77.3%, Wayne County is 82.2%, Seneca County is 85.7%.
State data only identifies children who have received one MMR immunization by age two.
Ontario County has one of the highest rates of MMR vaccinations at 87.1% and Yates County is the lowest in the state with 52.9%.
Measles case information is continuing to develop. WSKG will update its reporting as necessary.
