Measles up sharply in Europe since 2009

ATLANTA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Europe is experiencing increased outbreaks of measles, primarily due to the failure to vaccinate against the highly contagious disease, U.S. officials say.

A report published Thursday in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said following three years of historic low incidence of measles in the European Region, the number of reported measles cases increased sharply since 2009.

"During 2011, 26,074 measles cases with outbreaks in 36 countries (in Europe) have been reported as of Oct. 26, predominantly among older children and adults who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status," the report said. "The western European subregion reported 21,724, or 83.3 percent of the cases, the central and eastern European subregion reported 3,570, or 13.7 percent, of the cases, and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union reported 780, or 3 percent, of the cases."

Failure to vaccinate the susceptible populations is the primary reason for the increased transmission of measles virus in Europe.

Eliminating measles in Europe by 2015 will require achieving more than 95 percent vaccine coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine across a wide age range including adults, implementing effective outbreak control measures and further strengthening surveillance, CDC health officials said.