Westchester County Board of Legislators Health Committee Briefing on Hantavirus, Ebola, and Measles – May 20, 2026
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Westchester County Board of Legislators Health Committee Briefing on Hantavirus, Ebola, and Measles – May 20, 2026
The Westchester County Board of Legislators Committee on Health, chaired by Legislator Jewel Williams Johnson, met on May 20, 2026, from 11:06 a.m. to 12:04 p.m. to receive updates from Department of Health officials on the Andes hantavirus outbreak, an Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, and measles activity. No votes were taken; the session was informational.
Discussion Items
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Andes Hantavirus Update – Dr. Shalita Amler, Department of Health Commissioner, and Dr. Ada Wong, epidemiologist, reported that the risk to the general public from the cruise ship–linked Andes virus is "extremely low" and "essentially zero" except for identified exposed individuals. They stressed this is not COVID and not expected to become a pandemic. The Andes strain is the only hantavirus that spreads person-to-person and is found only in southern Argentina and Chile; the separate U.S. strain does not spread person-to-person. They described the outbreak: a small cruise ship (80 cabins, 170 passengers) left Argentina April 1; 11 cases and 3 deaths so far; 18 U.S. passengers are in a federal quarantine center in Omaha, Nebraska; 23 others (seven early-returning U.S. passengers and 16 exposed on a commercial flight) are being monitored at home. Two individuals in Nebraska received federal quarantine orders after declining to cooperate. No exposed people are currently in Westchester or New York, and there is no reason to cancel travel plans.
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Ebola Outbreak Update – Dr. Wong reported that the WHO was notified of an Ebola outbreak primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, caused by the Bunda Bujo variant. There are an estimated 500–600 cases and about 130 deaths, likely undercounted. The outbreak has reached densely populated cities (Kampala, Goma), and political instability delayed detection. U.S. entry restrictions apply to non-residents coming from DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan; seven American missionaries (including an infected doctor and his family) were transported to a military base in Germany.
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Measles Update – Dr. Wong and Dr. Amler noted measles remains a serious, vaccine-preventable threat. The U.S. had 2,300 cases and 3 deaths in 2025; 2026 has already seen 1,900 cases. New York State has 11 cases, mostly in New York City and Rockland County; Westchester has had no measles cases since 2019. Only 81% of Westchester two-year-olds are vaccinated for MMR, below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity. The Health Department urges residents to check vaccination records and offers free vaccines at White Plains and Yonkers clinics (call 914-995-5800). Dr. Amler said, "There is no reason a Westchester child should die from this disease," and Dr. Wong noted the two school-age children who died in 2025 were previously healthy and unvaccinated.
Key Outcomes
- The committee received the updates for informational purposes; no resolutions or votes were held.
- The Health Department will continue monitoring the evolving hantavirus and Ebola situations and coordinating with state and federal agencies.
- Residents are encouraged to ensure measles vaccination and take advantage of free county clinics.
Meeting Transcript
Morning. I was going to say one of the things that I handed out is actually a New York State fact sheet that has the link. So I don't know if somebody wants to get on the internet and project it if you guys want. It's open up for you. You could display it. The um website is on the bottom of the uh of the um tab app. Legislative Johnson. Thank you. This meeting is being recorded and summarized. Good morning all. I am uh legislative Jewel Winners Johnson, Chair of the Board of Legislators Committee on Health. Today is May 20th. Um, and we'll take attendance to officially start. I'm marking myself as present. Committee vice chair Barr present legislative in a mora. And I know that legislative peers is on her way. Legislator Uli, Chairman Gashi. We are officially open at 1106 a.m. Today, um considering recent uh headlines, we are um glad to receive an update from our Department of Health, uh Commissioner Dr. Shalita Amita Amler, as well as um our resident epidemiologist, Dr. Ada Hong the uh Hunter virus and um the measle uh outbreak. I mean not necessarily an outbreak, we were just talking before we officially started, and that there's been uh sprinkling of cases all around us. So um I will gladly uh turn over the mic to um the expert doctors in the room, and um thank you for being here and making us uh smarter and more aware about these two important issues. Well, we always appreciate the opportunity to have conversations. I think you know, an educated public is a prepared public, and um that's what we hope for. And so uh Dr. Wong with me who is our infectious disease expert, one of our infectious disease experts at the health department. And Ada, I don't know if you want to start with um uh yeah, I thought I would start with hontavirus since that's the thing that's in the news. Um time permitting, after we finish, I can also do a brief update about what's going on with the Ebola virus. Like I said, there's always something um going on. So, yes, thank you for bringing this up. So, one of the things, and there's uh like hard copy handout, but this is actually the New York State Um Department of Health fact sheet or FAQs on this Andes virus, and I will get into it in a minute so that people can look at it. Um before I go into that and some of the more specifics, you know, with the Andes virus, there's a couple of I think top-line key messages, and one the risk to the general public is extremely low, and as the New York State Commissioner says, there's no immediate risk to any New Yorkers. And I think I'm gonna go out on a limb because we don't like to say no or never, but unless you were a passenger on the affected cruise ship, or you were exposed to an infected passenger on a commercial flight or elsewhere, like at home or in a health care facility, all of whom I believe have been identified by health officials. Your risk is essentially zero. I mean, there really is no risk to the public, and just want to reassure um there's no reason not to proceed with whatever your travel plans are if you don't fit into one of those um categories, and so um that's one thing. We just wanted to provide reassurance. The other concern that's come up, at least to us, and I just want to be clear this is not COVID, and this is not going to be another pandemic. I think when everybody heard about cruise ship and disembarkation and whatever it is, it brought back like memories of what happened with the cruise ship in 2020 with COVID. So again, this is not COVID, and it's not going to be another COVID. And some of the reasons for that is that um, first of all, this Andes Hontavirus is much less easily spread um than COVID or measles. The other thing is this is a very contained setting. It was that cruise ship. We know everybody who was on that cruise ship, and there's a limited number of identified exposed contacts. And there's a limited number of identified exposed contacts. For example, they know who the people were on the airplanes, that people who left the ship early and flew on commercial flights. And those people have all been identified and they're all under monitoring. So that's one thing. The other thing is that Andes Fire Hontavirus is the only Hontavirus with person to person spread. And this virus and the rodents that carry this virus are not found anywhere in the US.
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