An analysis published on Thursday, the 13th of March, by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF shows that the number of measles cases reported in the European region in 2024 has doubled compared to the previous year, reaching its highest level in more than 25 years, according to Reuters and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC).
Children under five accounted for more than 40% of the 127 350 cases recorded last year in the region, which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia, the WHO said in a statement.
In the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) alone, 32 265 people were diagnosed with measles between the 1st of February 2024 and the 31st of January 2025. During this period, the highest number of measles cases in the whole EU/EEA was in Romania (27 568), where 18 measles-related deaths were recorded. One death was also recorded in Ireland.
Romania was followed by Kazakhstan with 28 147 cases, WHO said.
“Measles is back and this is a warning. Without high vaccination coverage, health security is not possible,” said Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“After declining immunisation coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cases increased again significantly in 2023 and 2024. Vaccination coverage in many countries has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels,” WHO added.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses for humans, according to WHO. Infections can cause complications including pneumonia, encephalitis and dehydration, as well as damage the immune system’s defences against various pathogens.
Vaccination coverage in the EU/EEA is still below the desired 95%, with only four countries (Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia) reporting coverage of both vaccine doses in 2023.
Of those diagnosed with measles in the EU/EEA between early 2024 and early 2025 for whom vaccination information was available, 25 503 or 86% were not vaccinated. This means that eight out of ten people who contracted measles during this period were not immunised.
Measles is a highly contagious disease. It spreads easily from person to person through the air (e.g. by an infected person coughing or sneezing) and spreads rapidly in the community among people who are not vaccinated or fully immunised.
In recent months, measles has also been in the spotlight in the US. In Texas and New Mexico, an outbreak that caused the first measles deaths in the US in a decade expanded this week by 28 new cases, bringing the total number of infected to 256.