World measles down 60 percent from 2000-10

ATLANTA, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Annually reported measles cases decreased 60 percent worldwide from 2000 to 2010 -- from 853,480 to 339,845 -- U.S. health officials said.

A report by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said measles incidence decreased 66 percent, from 146 cases per million to 50 cases per million worldwide. All World Health Organization regions reporting decreases in cases and incidence.

The greatest decrease in reported measles cases was from 853,480 in 2000 to 277,968 in 2008, the report said.

Global reported measles cases remained stable from 2008 to 2009, with increases in the African Region from 37,012 to 83,479, and in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from 12,120 to 36,605 -- balanced by a decrease in the Western Pacific Region from 147,987 to 66,609.

In 2010, reported measles cases decreased to 49,460 in the Western Pacific Region, to 10,072 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and to 50,265 in the South-East Asia Region -- but those decreases were offset by increases in the African Region to 199,174 and in the European Region to 30,625.

The findings were published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.