Measles Reported Among Amish In 3 New York Counties, Says Public Health Director

Parked Amish buggy with harness hung on a post beside a lake in Chautauqua County, New York — A county health director has now identified measles cases among the Amish in three western New York counties. Photo: Linda DiDomizio/flickr

In last week’s post on the measles situation, I noted how there has been a lot of coverage dancing around the idea that Amish communities are undergoing measles outbreaks — but with little-to-no direct confirmation that measles was present in Amish communities.

This was not really the fault of the news outlets reporting on the matter. In a number of cases, local officials understandably declined to reveal much, or any, identifying information.

Now, it seems that has started to change, as seen in a pair of stories just published. Just today, the coroner in Lancaster County confirmed a 6-week-old girl had in fact died from measles.

And that follows a new report in which a New York health director has acknowledged the presence of measles in several Amish communities in the western end of the state. As reported yesterday at the Olean Star:

Cattaraugus County has reported its first case of measles in more than 36 years — an unvaccinated individual in the northwestern part of the county.

Public Health Director Dr. Kevin D. Watkins said the person is a member of the county’s Amish community and likely contracted the disease from one of the six measles cases reported in Chautauqua County’s Amish members.

It was the beginning of August when the Allegany County Health Department reported its first case of measles among the Amish in the town of New Hudson. There are now six measles cases in that county — all among unvaccinated.

Based on what this excerpt says, among the region’s Amish population we can conclude there is at least:

Cattaraugus County: 1 case
Chautauqua County: 6 cases
Allegany County: 1 case

But that hardly means these eight are the only cases among the Amish. These three counties all border one another in western New York. Between the three of them, the counties share a whopping 11 separate Amish communities, of a total population of around 7,500 Amish people.

Cattaraugus County lies between Chautauqua County (to the west) and Allegany County (to the east). The three counties are home to around 7,500 Amish people, spread across nearly a dozen locations

Watkins does say that the Cattaraugus case was “likely contracted” from Amish with the illness in Chautauqua County, reflecting the cross-community ties and networks in Amish society. Indeed, the article describes this specifically:

The Amish communities in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties often gather together for weddings, funerals, auctions or barn-raisings. The same occurs between the Amish communities in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

Watkins also discussed a measles outbreak that happened among Amish in Cattaraugus County several generations ago. Back in 1990, nearly 200 Amish in the county had come down with the disease. That was at a time when the county’s Amish population was only a fraction of what it is now.

Watkins has experience on this particular issue. He also dealt with it seven years ago. In 2019, during a measles outbreak elsewhere in New York State, he sought to sit down with Amish bishops “to come up with a plan to deal with it.”

Response To The Latest Outbreak

This time around, the response of local Amish to the outbreak should be noted:

Watkins said news of the first measles case in Allegany County in July spread quickly among this county’s Amish communities.

Soon afterward, the health department began receiving calls from Amish families who wanted to know about getting their children vaccinated, Watkins said. “We are going out and vaccinating.”

Presumably a number of families did get vaccinations. This line in the article suggests the same: “Health department nurses are trying to vaccinate as many Amish children as they can and stay ahead of the disease.”

Now, given that there are nearly a dozen distinct settlements in this area, that doesn’t mean that the response across all the Amish here is the same. Some communities, generally speaking, are likely more vaccine-hesitant than others. That distinction is not discussed in the article.

But the Amish in a community such as Clymer (Chautauqua County) are a significantly more progressive group than those in the Conewango Valley settlement (Cattaraugus County). So you might guess that rates would be higher among the former, though again we don’t have details on that level here.

Chautauqua County Immunizations – Mobile Clinic Schedule

As an example of public health outreach in the region, Chautauqua County is running a series of mobile clinics over the next month, including in areas with Amish zip codes. Here’s the schedule, via the Observer Today:

Friday, Sept. 4 — Trinity Church, 1230 Wigren Road, Frewsburg, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 9 — Abbe Reformed Church, 595 Clymer-Sherman Road, Clymer, 9:30 a.m. to noon
Friday, Sept. 11 — Troyer Greenhouse, 1669 Weeks Road, Panama, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 16 — Fredonia Presbyterian Church, 219 Central Ave., Fredonia, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 24 — West Portland Baptist Church, 7081 US Route 20, Westfield, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 29 — Baptist Church of Ellington, 530 Route 62, Conewango Valley, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 30 — Salvation Army Food Distribution Center, 83 S. Main, Jamestown, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 5 — Cherry Creek Country Church, 6813 North Main Street, Cherry Creek, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.