Four countries in Europe lose measles elimination status

Four European countries have lost their measles elimination status, according to the WHO. A commission tasked with looking into how well countries in Europe kept up with vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella has found that the U.K., Albania, the Czech Republic, and Greece can no longer be considered countries where measles has been wiped out. Slipping vaccination rates across the region have led to a surge in measles cases in recent years, and this year is on target to outpace previous years’ case counts. Already in Europe this year, there have been 90,000 cases of the disease; there were about 84,000 cases in 2018. At the same time, Austria and Switzerland have gained measles elimination status, meaning there has not been continuous transmission for 36 months.