JONATHAN M. METSCH, Dr.P.H. – Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges – October 14, 2026– MEASLES
“What else can local public health departments do to get this outbreak under control?
It’s not just better communication. It’s prioritizing communication. Let’s zoom back to Operation Warp Speed [the federal initiative to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine]. We spent billions of dollars to create incredible life-saving interventions for vaccines. We spent nothing on a communications plan to help them penetrate communities.
You need a science communication team of people who are specifically trained in science communication, and that’s what departments of health need to prioritize. It’s not the lack of resources like vaccines; it’s the lack of budget to prioritize those types of job descriptions and hires. There’s a very famous quote from Walt Orenstein [former director of the United States’ National Immunization Program] that I live by: Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations do. The difference between a vaccine and a vaccination is a trusted message from a trusted messenger. Otherwise, vaccines are going to be sitting cold in the fridge.
The work of science is not finished until the public understands it. I have shared the statistic that prior to the MMR vaccine [approved in 1971 as a single injection to prevent measles, mumps and rubella], 500 kids in the United States used to die every single year from measles. People would be in my DMs, in my inbox, saying that’s not that many kids.
I have to bang my head against the wall and say that if it was one kid it would be too many, because it’s 100 percent preventable. When one person tells their story of losing their one kid, it’s more powerful than hearing a statistic. Unfortunately, people have become number blind.
Based on years of data, trust is always highest at the most local level. I hope that states feel more emboldened to lead locally. Leveraging community leaders, community health workers and other trusted messengers in the population can be really powerful. This could mean partnerships with local religious leaders, community organizers — or barber shops and hairdressers — so that people are having conversations before business hours, after business hours, in between business hours, and doing it in collaboration with the department of health.” (1)
“As measles cases continue to tick up on the New York State Department of Health dashboard, public health officials in Otsego and Seneca counties said they believe the outbreak is even bigger than the state’s count shows.
The county officials told Gothamist they think many more cases are going unreported in their upstate counties, where the disease is spreading rapidly through unvaccinated communities.
The state has confirmed 126 measles cases through Oct. 10, including eight new cases confirmed last week, according to the state Department of Health website.
The data comes from cases reported by local health departments. The disease’s spread in rural upstate communities prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a disaster emergency last week to expand measles testing and vaccination efforts.
But “looking at case counts can be a little deceiving,” said Scott King, the public health director in Seneca County, in the Finger Lakes region, where the state dashboard has logged 22 measles cases this year.
“Cases can jump at a moment’s notice if you get one official case and then you interview that person and he or she says, ‘Oh, yeah, my spouse and my four kids all had the rash,’” King said.
King said finding entire households that have gotten sick is a common occurrence in enclaves where vaccination rates are low. King said county health workers are working to confirm additional cases by interviewing patients who test positive, but not all households are cooperative.
“ We’re dealing with some situations as we speak of likely cases and lots of people exposed, and it’s continuing to spread,” King said.” (2)
39-year-old unvaccinated woman becomes 6th measles death in Pennsylvania, https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/39-year-old-unvaccinated-woman-becomes-6th-measles-death-in-pennsylvania/
1.How Should Local Health Officers Respond to Measles Outbreaks?, Carl Smith, https://www.governing.com/management-and-administration/how-should-local-health-officers-respond-to-measles-outbreaks
2.NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say, By Caroline Lewis, https://gothamist.com/news/ny-measles-outbreak-more-widespread-than-official-count-health-officials-say
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai