Child Dies of Measles in New York State for the First Time in 30 Years
20:32 3 November, 2026A child has died after contracting measles in New York State, marking the first recorded measles death in the state in the past three decades. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the news on November 2.
"I am saddened to learn that a child from Lewis County has died from measles," she wrote on X. "This is the first measles death in New York in 30 years, and it serves as a tragic reminder of what is at stake when officials in Washington deliberately roll back progress in protecting Americans from preventable diseases."
According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of confirmed measles cases in the United States reached 4,852 in 2026, as of October 29. The figure for the first ten months of 2026 has already significantly exceeded the total for all of 2025, when 2,289 cases were reported nationwide.
In 2024, the CDC confirmed 285 cases, compared with 59 in 2023. The last time the United States recorded a higher number was in 1991, when 9,643 measles cases were reported.