New York Reports First Measles Death In Over 30 Years As U.S. Cases Remain At 35-Year High

TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A child in upstate New York has died after catching measles, the state’s first death linked to the disease in more than 30 years.

State and Lewis County health officials announced the death Monday, The Washington Post reports.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of a child in Lewis County associated with the ongoing measles outbreak,” the officials said in a joint statement.

They didn’t say how old the child was or whether the child had been vaccinated. State health department spokesperson Marissa Crary told The Post that no further details would be released to protect the family’s privacy.

The death comes amid a surge in measles cases across rural New York and nearby states. Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide emergency in response.

As of Oct. 24, New York had confirmed 178 measles cases this year, the state health department said. Eight of those were in New York City.

Nationally, 2026 is the worst year for measles in decades. As of Oct. 29, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had counted 4,852 confirmed cases in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

That’s more than double the 2,289 cases reported in all of 2025. It’s also the highest yearly total since 1991, The Post reports.

Nearly all of this year’s cases (96%) are tied to outbreaks, the CDC says.

Pennsylvania reported the country’s first measles deaths of the year in late August and has confirmed five so far, The Post reports. As of Monday, the state had logged 1,433 cases.

Not all of those deaths show up in federal data. The CDC lists just three U.S. measles deaths in 2026.

Normally, the CDC adds a death to its count after a state health department confirms it. But the agency’s new director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, chose to leave Pennsylvania’s deaths off the CDC’s weekly measles dashboard, The Post reported. 

The CDC says it’s now working with state disease experts to create a standard way to count measles deaths.

The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000. Since then, declining vaccination rates have left more children and adults unprotected.

When given in two doses, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is about 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world. It can stay airborne for up to two hours after someone who has it leaves the room.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information about measles vaccination.

SOURCES: The Washington Post, Nov. 2, 2026; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oct. 30, 2026