The WHO withdraws Spain's measles-free status due to the increase in infections

BarcelonaSpain is back to square one in the fight against measles. This Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) informed the Ministry of Health that endemic transmission of the disease has been re-established in the country after... worrying resurgence that occurred last yearIt was successfully eliminated in 2016, but as the ARA announced in early 2026The increase in infections in recent years jeopardized the eradication of the disease. Finally, the European Regional Verification Committee for the Elimination of Measles and Rubella (CRV) reversed course and withdrew the country's measles-free status a decade later.

Now, the Ministry of Health will have to update the Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Measles and Rubella to adapt it to the current situation, as the number of cases and outbreaks is increasing worldwide. In Catalonia, for example, around thirty people were diagnosed with the disease in 2024, while last year the total was already around ninety infections. Furthermore, experts predict that cases will continue to rise. "If the current trend continues, we will have 200 cases of measles this year," warned Jacobo Mendioroz, Deputy Director General of Surveillance and Emergency Response at the Public Health Agency of the Generalitat, at the beginning of the year. The new plan will replace the current one, drawn up for the period 2021-2025, which aimed to improve vaccination coverage and strengthen the detection of infections after the COVID-19 pandemic, which interrupted vaccination for a large part of the world's population. However, it has failed to curb the rise in cases: 227 infections were detected in 2024, and according to provisional figures for 2025, the total number of positive cases last year was 397. Of all the cases diagnosed in Spain, one in five are reported from Catalonia, although it is true that it is the second most populous autonomous community, and, if we look at the incidence rates, there are other regions of Spain where measles has had a greater impact. The autonomous communities that have detected the most cases this year are Andalusia, with 94; the Basque Country, with 51; and the Balearic Islands, with 39. The Canary Islands, with 38 cases, and the autonomous city of Melilla, with 31, have the highest numbers. The vast majority of cases originate from other countries or are linked to imported outbreaks, and according to data from the Ministry of Health, three out of four infected individuals had not been vaccinated. Therefore, the new plan will seek to strengthen vaccination coverage, as immunization with the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella) remains the most effective measure for preventing measles. In 2024, national coverage reached 97.3% for the first dose and 93.8% for the second. In addition to Spain, five other countries have moved from elimination to re-establishment of transmission: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and the United Kingdom. In total, measles is persistently circulating in thirteen European countries. Among them, France, Germany, and Italy have moved from a scenario of interrupted transmission to one of sustained transmission. It should be noted that this data is part of a massive outbreak of the disease in Europe that began in 2024, with more than 35,000 infections, according to the annual report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).