Pennsylvania reports 1,000-plus measles cases, largest state outbreak in three decades

Pennsylvania health officials have now recorded over 1,000 cases of measles, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades.

The nearly 3,900 cases that have been reported so far this year in the U.S. is the most since 1991, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

At least eight people have died in measles-related deaths in the past two years – more than the combined total of reported deaths over the previous three decades, according to Politico.

Since the beginning of last year, large outbreaks have been reported in several states including Texas and Utah and South Carolina. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday, the same day Pennsylvania reported its most recent numbers, declared a disaster emergency in response to cases in rural areas of the state and in neighboring states, Politico also reports.