UK health agency warns ‘very real risk’ measles outbreak could spread, national incident declared

An outbreak in central England could spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to boost vaccination uptake, the authorities say

The World Health Organization and US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recently said there had been a ‘staggering’ annual rise in measles cases and deaths

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Central England has a measles outbreak and officials are concerned it will spread amid a low vaccine uptake. A major global spike in measles and deaths has occurred, the WHO said. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:25pm, 19 Jan 2024Updated: 1:25am, 20 Jan 2024

Britain’s public health agency warned on Friday that an outbreak of measles in central England could spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to boost vaccination uptake.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national incident, signalling a growing public health risk.

It said there had been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands since October 1, with the majority being in children under the age of 10.

“With vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities,” said UKHSA Chief Executive Jenny Harries.

A report from the World Health Organization and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in November that there had been a “staggering” annual rise in measles cases and deaths globally in 2022.

The MMR vaccine is given to many young children. Photo: Shutterstock

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world but is preventable by two doses of vaccine. The Covid-19 pandemic massively disrupted routine immunisation efforts worldwide, and the bounce back has been slow.