Health agencies warn that measles remains a challenge in Europe despite a 2025 decline from the previous year's record high, urging urgent action on vaccination hesitancy.
Measles, a disease often forgotten, remains a challenge across the continent. Cases in the World Health Organization’s European region have declined in 2025 compared to the previous year, yet experts warn that the risk of outbreaks persists.
In 2024, there were 127,350 measles cases reported in Europe – the highest reports since 1997.
Although cases fell in 2025, the reported infections were twice as high as in 2023, warns the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
“Europe should be leading the world in measles elimination,” said Sabrina Bacci, head of the ECDC programme on vaccine-preventable diseases and immunisation.
She added that Europe has a highly effective and safe vaccine, as well as the knowledge, the resources, and some of the most robust surveillance tools to control this preventable disease.
To prevent outbreaks and protect those particularly vulnerable to measles – such as children too young to be vaccinated and those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons – at least 95 percent of the eligible population should receive two doses of the vaccine.
However, the ECDC notes that 8 in 10 people who fell ill with measles during 2025 had not been vaccinated, mirroring the pattern seen in 2024.
“Individual vaccination protects others who cannot be vaccinated, as it reduces the spread of infections. This makes vaccination not only an act of self-protection but also one of solidarity. Eliminating measles should be possible if we act together,” added Bacci.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses affecting humans; for every person who has measles, up to 18 other unvaccinated people will be infected, making it around 12 times more contagious than influenza.
The disease can cause long-term, debilitating health complications, including damage to the immune system by “erasing” its memory of how to fight infections for months to even years.
This leaves measles survivors vulnerable to other diseases and death, the WHO warns.
Vaccination: the only way forward
There is no cure and no specific treatment for measles; it usually lasts around two weeks without complications, underscoring the key role of vaccination in tackling the disease.
“While cases have reduced, the conditions that led to the resurgence of this deadly disease in recent years remain and must be addressed,” said Regina De Dominicis, regional director for Europe and Central Asia at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
She stressed the need to address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. Without this, De Dominics added, children will remain at risk of death or serious illness from measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, on Wednesday called for people to rely only on verified health information from reliable sources in “today’s environment of rampant fake news”.
“Eliminating measles is essential for national and regional health security,” Kluge added.
Measles’ rise in recent years
Europe is not the only region facing rising cases. After years of progress in measles control worldwide, the disease has steadily increased in recent years.
Earlier this year, the WHO announced that six European countries – Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan – had lost their measles-free status following the surge in cases in 2024.
A country loses its measles-free status if the virus returns and transmission is sustained continuously for more than a year.
