The United Kingdom has lost its measles-free status, three years after the virus was eliminated in the country.
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ordering urgent action to ensure that children and young people in Britain are protected against measles.
The disease can be stopped through two doses of the MMR vaccine, but immunisation rates have been falling for a number of reasons.
And the UK has lost its measles-free status, three years after the virus was eliminated in the country. In the first quarter of 2019, there were 231 confirmed cases in the UK.
The prime minister announced that: GPs are being asked to promote catch-up vaccinations for children who may have missed out on both doses; social media companies are being urged to quash misleading anti-vaccine messages; the firms will be invited to a summit to explore how they can better promote accurate vaccination information and the government will also use the NHS website to address misleading claims about the safety of vaccines.
Measles is now endemic in countries including France, Germany and Italy. Measles cases nearly tripled globally during the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2018, the World Health Organization has confirmed. So far this year there have been 364,808 measles cases reported around the world.