Spread of measles virus D4-Hamburg, Europe, 2008-2011.

August 01, 2011 By:
  • Mankertz A
  • Mihneva Z
  • Gold H
  • Baumgarte S
  • Baillot A
  • Helble R
  • Roggendorf H
  • Bosevska G
  • Nedeljkovic J
  • Makowka A
  • Hutse V
  • Holzmann H
  • Aberle SW
  • Cordey S
  • Necula G
  • Mentis A
  • Korukluoglu G
  • Carr M
  • Brown KE
  • Hubschen JM
  • Muller CP
  • Mulders MN
  • Santibanez S.

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-to-reach 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.

2011 Aug. Emerg Infect Dis.17(8):1396-401.
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