Health Alerts

Four countries in the region have now lost their measles-free status – Greece, the Czech Republic and Albania have joined the ranks along with the UK after a review of 2018 data from 53 member countries. The European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) did, however, award elimination status to Austria and Switzerland. Last year’s spike in cases across the region continued its momentum with nearly 90,000 new measles notifications (& 37 deaths) this year – already more than the 2018 total of just under 84,000. Other measles reports this week from Brazil (YTD total of almost 2,500 cases - São Paulo state is the epicentre), the USA (Brooklyn, NY, the outbreak has ended) and New Zealand (Auckland’s measles case numbers now 812). In other related news, mumps notifications in England hit a 10-year high from April-May this year with high rates noted in particular among university students. Read More.