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Measles

Information, resources, and up-to-date data on measles

Global Measles Outbreaks

An outbreak means more disease is occurring than expected. Measles is one of the most contagious human diseases known. Because measles is so contagious, it can easily cross borders. In 2023, an estimated 10.3 million people were infected with measles. Right now, measles outbreaks are happening in every region of the world. Anyone who is not protected against measles can get measles while abroad and easily spread it to others when they return home.


WHO Measles Surveillance

The World Health Organization's  Immunization Analysis & Insights Unit is a data hub and analytics engine for immunization data and performs analytics. Timely measles and rubella surveillance is critical to disease control. Identifying and confirming suspected measles and rubella cases through surveillance allows:

  • early detection of outbreaks
  • analysis of on-going transmission in order to mount more effective vaccination measures
  • estimation of the underlying true incidence based on the patterns in reported data

Most Member States submit monthly reports on suspected and confirmed measles and rubella cases identified through their national disease surveillance systems to WHO. In general, the number of reported cases reflects a small proportion of the true number of cases occurring in the community. Many cases do not seek health care or, if diagnosed, are not reported. In addition, there is a one to two month lag time in reporting. For these reasons, the data provided on this page under-represents the true number of cases, particularly those occurring in the last one to two months.

Data can be accessed through the Provisional Measles and Rubella Data Portal.

 
Global Measles and Rubella Report

The Global Measles and Rubella Report is based on surveillance data reported by Member States to the regional offices weekly or monthly. The regional compilation is reported to WHO monthly. Data are to be reported from the regions on the 1st Friday of the month, and WHO attempts to release the monthly report by the 3rd Monday of the month.

Note: Numbers of cases might differ from the official numbers reported annually as part of the WHO/UNICEF Joint reporting process (JRF). The difference can be due to the time lag as the annual data might not be complete at the time of reporting. In addition, the difference can be due to multiple surveillance systems at country level. In these cases, the monthly data are extracted from the case based surveillance system while the annual data can be from the aggregated system.
 
Most Recent Update: May 2025 Measles and Rubella Global Update

 

Measles Cases Reported by WHO Region

As of data received by May 1, 2025, there have been 62,513 confirmed measles cases and133,757 suspected measles cases globally, for a total of 196,270 cases so far in 2025. These numbers are significantly fewer than in 2024 in all regions except the Americas.

WHO Region Member States Reporting Confirmed Measles Cases Suspected Measles Cases
Africa 39/47 14,476 28,449
Americas 26/35 2,301 6,372
Eastern Mediterranean 20/21 20.665 32,735
Europe 44/53 13,154 18,161
Southeast Asia 11/11 8,622 38,373
Western Pacific 22/27 3,275 11,677
Total 162/194 62,513 133,757

 

Verification of Measles Elimination

The Framework for Verifying Elimination of Measles and Rubella (October 2012) describes the hierarchy of evidence for verification of measles elimination. 

  • Definition: Absence of endemic transmission in a defined geographical area (e.g., region or country) for a period >12 months in the presence of a well-performing surveillance system.
  • Criteria: Verification of interruption of transmission for at least 3 years in the presence of high quality surveillance; Maintenance of high quality surveillance systems; Verification of absence of endemic transmission through viral surveillance

Elimination status is achieved after 12 months of no endemic transmission in a region. Verification of measles elimination takes place after 36 months of interrupted measles transmission. 

In short, "elimination" is the state, "verification" is the process.

WHO Region Member States Verified % Verified Eliminated Endemic Not Classified
Africa 47 0 0% 0 47 0
Americas 35 34 97% 0 0 1
Eastern Mediterranean 21 4 19% 0 17 0
Europe 53 33 62% 8 11 1
Southeast Asia 11 4 36% 0 7 0
Western Pacific 27 6 22% 15 6 0
Total 194 81 42% 23 88 2

Measles Surges Globally

Measles cases surge worldwide, infecting 10.3 million people in 2023
14 November 2024 | WHO Joint News Release

Worldwide, there were an estimated 10.3 million cases of measles in 2023, a 20% increase from 2022, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Inadequate immunization coverage globally is driving the surge in cases.

As a result of global gaps in vaccination coverage, 57 countries experienced large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2023, affecting all regions except the Americas, and representing a nearly 60% increase from 36 countries in the previous year. The WHO African, Eastern Mediterranean, European, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions experienced a substantial upsurge in cases. Nearly half of all large or disruptive outbreaks occurred in the African region.

As measles cases surge and outbreaks increase, the world’s elimination goal, as laid out in Immunization Agenda 2030, is under threat. Worldwide, 82 countries had achieved or maintained measles elimination at the end of 2023. Just this week, Brazil was reverified as having eliminated measles, making the WHO Americas Region once again free of endemic measles. With the exception of the African Region, at least 1 country in all WHO regions has eliminated the disease.

Measles in the Americas

Epidemiological Update Measles in the Americas Region

Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) | 2 May 2025
 
Global Overview

In 2025, the monthly measles and rubella surveillance data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates 82,068 suspected measles cases were reported as of 10 April 2025, in 156 Member States across the six WHO regions, of which 39,281 (47.9%) were confirmed. In 2024, 706,913 suspected measles cases were reported in 184 WHO Member States, of which 359,466 (50.9%) were confirmed.

 
Summary of the situation in the Americas Region

In 2025, between epidemiological week (EW) 1 and EW 16 [January 1 - April 20, 2025], in the Americas Region, 2,325 measles cases have been confirmed, including four deaths. This total represents an 11-fold increase compared to the 205 measles cases reported in the same period of 2024.

Country Cases Deaths
Argentina 22 0
Belize 7 0
Bolivia 1 0
Brazil 5 0
Canada 1,069 0
Mexico 421 1
United States of America 800 3
Total 2,325 4

According to the information available from confirmed cases, the age group with the highest proportion of cases corresponds to the 10-19 year old group (24%), the 1-4 year old group (22%) and the 20-29 year old group (19%). Regarding the history of vaccination, 30% of the cases were not vaccinated and in 65% this information was unknown or absent.

 

Figure 3: Geographic distribution of confirmed measles cases by subnational level (in yellow) in the Americas Region, 2025 (up to EW 16)

Measles and Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report

Last updated: 2025-05-26

This report provides a weekly summary of measles and rubella cases in Canada. Data are updated every FridayPrevious versions of this weekly report are also available.

 

Week 20 (May 11 to 17, 2025)
Current Situation
  • In 2025, a total of 2,515 measles cases (2,197 confirmed, 318 probable) have been reported by 9 jurisdictions (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan), as of May 17, 2025.

  • In week 20 (May 11 to 17, 2025), 354 new measles cases (309 confirmed, 45 probable) were reported by 5 jurisdictions (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan).
  • There are a total of 1,509 recent measles cases (1,329 confirmed, 180 probable), reported by 42 health units within 7 jurisdictions Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan), as of May 17, 2025.

 
Ongoing outbreaks in Canada

There is a multijurisdictional measles outbreak ongoing in Canada. Of the 2,515 measles cases (2,197 confirmed, 318 probable) reported in 2025, 1,774 cases (1,463 confirmed, 311 probable) are linked to this outbreak.sz

 

The outbreak began in New Brunswick in October 2024. It has continued to spread in Ontario and there have been related cases reported in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. A total of 1,861 cases (1,520 confirmed, 341 probable) have been reported in this outbreak in 2024 and 2025, as of May 17, 2025.

Measles Surveillance in Mexico

Pan-American Health Organization | Last Updated: 2 May 2025
 
Overview of Cases

In Mexico, between January 1 and April 12, 2025, a total of 421 measles cases were confirmed, including one death: Of these, two cases were imported, 35 were linked to importation, and 384 have a source of infection under investigation. 

Of the confirmed cases, 52% are female and 48% male. Thirty-four percent of cases were between 25 and 44 years old, followed by 14% of cases that were between 5 and 9 years old. Regarding the history of vaccination in confirmed cases, 92% were unvaccinated, 4% had received one dose of MMR and 4% had received two doses of MMR. One death due to complications of measles was confirmed in a person with comorbidities and no history of measles vaccination.

 
Outbreak Origins

The first case reported in 2025, a five-year-old female, with no history of vaccination, from the United States and resident in Oaxaca, with a history of international travel between October 2024 and January 2025, arrived in Mexico on 29 January and had rash onset on 10 February. The genotype and lineage identified was B3, Lineage: MVs/An_Giang.VNM/27.24. Three additional cases related to this case were confirmed in Oaxaca.

In the State of Chihuahua, the first confirmed case there was reported on 20 February, corresponding to a 9-year-old male with no history of vaccination, who presented the onset of rash on 11 February and completed his period of transmissibility within his community.  The genotype and lineage identified was D8, Lineage: MVs/Ontario.CAN/47.24. Subsequently, as part of the contact tracing and active search actions, an additional 416 cases have been identified.

 
Geographical Location of Cases
State Cases Deaths
Campeche 4 0
Chihuahua 403 1
Oaxaca 4 0
Querétaro 1 0
Sinaloa 1 0
Tamaulipas 2 0
Zacatecas 1 0
Total 421 1

Measles in Europe

ECDC Surveillance and Disease Data for Measles

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is a public health agency of the European Union (EU), operational since 2005. ECDC is a member of the European Union (EU) family and receives funding from the EU budget. The EU Institutions and Member States are therefore ECDC’s most important partners. 

 
Monthly Surveillance Reports

ECDC publishes monthly surveillance data on measles and rubella submitted by the 30 EU/EEA countries. This report provides an overview of measles and rubella cases reported routinely to ECDC through Epipulse Cases. Measles and rubella cases are reported monthly, and data presented here are for the latest complete 12 months of reporting alongside a historical comparison.

 
March 2025 Measles and Rubella Monitoring Report | Published: 2 April 2025

In March 2025, 27 countries reported measles data, with 1,097 cases reported by 16 countries. There were 11 countries that reported zero cases.

Overall, case numbers decreased compared with the previous month, however this is subject to change in the event of a future retrospective update. The highest case counts were reported by:

  • Romania - 578
  • France - 193
  • Netherlands - 129
  • Italy - 82

 

In the most recent 12-month period, from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, 30 EU/EEA Member States reported a total of 26,222 cases of measles.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, of the 26,222 cases with known age:

  • 11,654 (44.4%) were in children under five years of age
  • 7,255 (27.7%) cases were aged 15 years or older
  • The highest notification rates were observed in infants under one year of age (849.7 cases per million) and children aged 1-4 years (491.7 cases per million).

Of 24,337 cases (100.0% of all cases) with a known age and vaccination status:

  • 20,893 (85.8%) were unvaccinated
  • 2,185 (9.0%) were vaccinated with one dose of a measles-containing vaccine
  • 1,180 (4.8%) were vaccinated with two or more doses
  • 48 (0.2%) were vaccinated with an unknown number of doses.

Fourteen deaths (case fatality rate (CFR): 0.1) attributable to measles were reported to ECDC during the 12-month period by Romania (n=13) and France (n=1).

Weekly Communicable Disease Threats

A weekly summary of all information gathered through epidemic intelligence activities regarding communicable diseases of concern to the EU. It also provides updates on the global situation and changes in the epidemiology of communicable diseases with potential to affect Europe. Diseases that are the focus of eradication efforts are also included.

Measles updates are included in the CDTR on a monthly basis.

 

Measles – Multi-country (World) – Monitoring European outbreaks – monthly monitoring

Most Recent Report: Week 20: 16 May 2025

  • In March 2025, 1,097 measles cases were reported by 16 countries. Eleven countries reported zero cases.
  • In the most recent 12-month period, from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025, 30 EU/EEA countries reported a total of 28,791 measles cases.
  • The overall number of measles cases in the EU/EEA increased steadily between June 2023 and March 2024, before decreasing between April 2024 and March 2025. Measles cases may continue to increase in the EU/EEA in the coming months, in line with measles' observed seasonality.