A New York coroner today confirmed that a 7-month-old Amish boy is the child that state health officials were referring to when they announced a “measles-associated death” late Monday.
Lewis County Coroner Jeffery Tompkins told The Defender today in an email that the infant was unvaccinated. However, Tompkins declined to say what the child’s death certificate or coroner’s report listed as the cause or causes of death.
Tompkins also declined to say if the child had any comorbidities or underlying illnesses.
The New York State Department of Health and Lewis County Public Health, which jointly announced the death, called it the “first known measles-associated death in New York State in more than 30 years.”
They did not provide details about the infant or whether medical authorities had determined the exact cause of death.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was “heartbroken” by the news and linked the child’s death to actions by the Trump administration. Hochul said:
“Measles is highly contagious, and vaccination remains our best protection against this dangerous disease. This is New York’s first measles-related death in 30 years, a devastating reminder of what’s at stake when Washington deliberately erodes decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable illnesses.”
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) CEO Mary Holland said it was “unfortunate” that Hochul — who delivered her statement the night before the midterm elections — was “exploiting this situation for political purposes.”
“Any child’s death is a tragedy. This should be a time of grieving and investigation, not grandstanding and casting blame,” Holland said.
Health officials have released very little information about the circumstances surrounding the child’s death, Holland said. “Why are the health authorities saying ‘measles-associated death’ rather than a ‘measles death’? We don’t know.”
Although state and county health officials reported the death as being linked to measles, news reports were quick to characterize the death as having been due to measles.
For example, The New York Times ran an article under the headline, “Child Dies From Measles in New York State’s First Fatal Case in 30 Years.”
VAERS shows multiple measles-vaccine-related deaths in past 30 years
CHD Senior Research Scientist Karl Jablonowski said the state and county health departments’ joint statement contained “a touch of truth and a heavy dose of fallacy.”
Jablonowski explained:
“The touch of truth is that the last measles-associated death in New York was in the 1990-1991 season, 35 years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What makes the statement a fallacy is that the vaccine against the measles virus is itself a measles virus, albeit attenuated through chicken cells. And there have been 20 measles-vaccine-associated (and therefore measles-associated) deaths in New York since 1990, according to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System [VAERS], an under-reported passive surveillance system.”
The most recent VAERS report of a measles-vaccine-associated death is a 2025 report of a baby who died a few hours after her well-baby checkup, where she received 6 shots of 12 vaccines, he said.
Jablonowski added:
“Two years ago, a 20-month-old boy died 10 days after receiving the MMR and varicella vaccines. Six years ago, a 45-year-old man who received only the MMR had a seizure within 24 hours of vaccination and died the next day. All in the state of New York, all ignored by the New York State Department of Health with yesterday’s statement.”
Hochul declared state measles emergency in month leading up to midterms
The 7-month-old’s death comes nearly a month after Hochul declared a statewide measles emergency, citing rising measles cases in rural areas of New York and neighboring states.
Hochul made the declaration through an Executive Order, which allowed her to temporarily suspend or modify laws and ordinances that could hinder actions that health officials determine are necessary to cope with a disaster emergency.
The State Disaster Emergency is set to expire on Nov. 4, the day after the midterm elections, unless Hochul extends it.
The order relaxed rules for who can order measles tests and administer vaccines, making it easier for a wider group of health professionals — including paramedics, advanced emergency medical service providers, pharmacists and midwives — to administer measles shots.
It also suspended the requirement for adults to consent to have their vaccination status included in a state registry when they get immunized.
New York has a population of about 20 million people. As of Oct. 31, the state has reported 210 measles cases, according to the state’s measles dashboard.
The state health department’s measles update website makes multiple references to the risks associated with a measles infection without mentioning any of the risks of the MMR shot.
In an earlier interview with The Defender, CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker criticized New York state for failing to inform people of the risks of vaccination and for not providing adequate information for people who do contract the disease.
“The New York state website is woefully inadequate for any individual who contracts the measles as it provides no information for treatment and prevention outside of vaccinating anything that moves,” he said.
“There are several good established protocols that may limit the severity of the infection and prevent progression to pneumonia, which may occur in about 5% of all cases.”
Hooker said New York health officials provide no information on risks versus benefits of vaccination to help people to make informed decisions.
New York doesn’t allow religious exemptions
New York is one of several states that fail to honor religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
State authorities have fined Amish communities that fail to comply with the state’s school-based vaccination requirements. The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the issue but has yet to rule on the constitutionality of New York state’s action.
Yesterday, CHD filed an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs. CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg said the court clerk has yet to approve the filing, which usually takes a few days.
California, Maine, Connecticut and West Virginia also do not allow religious exemptions.
New York has also started denying medical exemptions.
CHD is funding multiple lawsuits in the state, including one on behalf of 17-year-old Sarah Doe, who was forced out of school for not taking all state-mandated vaccines, even though numerous doctors have said she should be medically exempt from the requirement due to her precarious health and past adverse reactions.
