SPREAD OF MEASLES VIRUS D4-HAMBURG, EUROPE, 2008–2011

Annette Mankertz, Zefira Mihneva, Hermann Gold, Sigrid Baumgarte, Armin Baillot, Rudolph Helble, Hedwig Roggendorf, Golubinka Bosevska, Jasminka Nedeljkovic, Agata Makowka, Veronik Hutse, Heidemarie Holzmann, Stefan W. Aberle, Samuel Cordey, Gheorghe Necula, Andreas Mentis, Gulay Korukluoğlu, Michael Carr, Kevin E. Brown, Judith M. HübschenClaude P. Muller, Mick N. Mulders, Sabine Santibanez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A new strain of measles virus, D4-Hamburg, was imported from London to Hamburg in December 2008 and subsequently spread to Bulgaria, where an outbreak of >24,300 cases was observed. We analyzed spread of the virus to demonstrate the importance of addressing hard-toreach communities within the World Health Organization European Region regarding access to medical care and vaccination campaigns. The D4-Hamburg strain appeared during 2009–2011 in Poland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland, and Belgium and was repeatedly reimported to Germany. The strain was present in Europe for >27 months and led to >25,000 cases in 12 countries. Spread of the virus was prevalently but not exclusively associated with travel by persons in the Roma ethnic group; because this travel extends beyond the borders of any European country, measures to prevent the spread of measles should be implemented by the region as a whole.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)108-114
Number of pages7
JournalRomanian Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume14
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2011, Amaltea Medical Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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