Ukraine: Measles Outbreak - Jan 2019

Measles outbreak continues to spread in Ukraine, with new cases being reported in all regions. In 2018, Ukraine reported more measles cases than all of the European Union. Large-scale outbreak response measures have been undertaken since the start of the outbreak in 2017 to curb further spread of the disease and restore high routine immunization coverage, however, in 2018 the amount of the confirmed cases has increased tenfold. In 2018, 11.2 per cent, average one-week increase, brought the total number of measles cases to 54,481 (20,204 adults and 34,277 children), with 16 deaths. Since the beginning of 2019, more than 21,000 cases (7 deaths) have been registered which is an absolute record for the country and 300 per cent increase from 2018’s January and February months.

Most people affected by the measles outbreak for 2018 regions are in Lviv (total 11,873 people: 3,378 adults and 8,495 children), Zakarpattya (total 4,733 people: 988 adults and 3,745 children), Ivano-Frankivsk region (total 5,617 people: 1,496 adults and 4,121 children), Odesa (total 2,835 people: 1,426 adults and 1,409 children), Ternopil (total 3,658 people: 1,268 adults and 2 390 children), Vinnitsa (total 3,422 people: 1,212 adults and 2,210 children), Rivne (total 2,950 people: 922 adults and 2,028 children), Chernivtsi (total 3,387 people: 1,117 adults and 2,267 children) and capital city of Kyiv (total 3,197 people: 1,898 adults and 1 299 children). (IFRC, 4 Mar 2019)