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

Emerg Infect Dis. 2011 Aug;17(8):1396-401. doi: 10.3201/eid1708.101994.

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-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.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Europe / epidemiology
  • Genotype
  • Germany / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Measles / epidemiology*
  • Measles / transmission*
  • Measles / virology
  • Measles virus / classification
  • Measles virus / genetics*
  • Measles virus / immunology
  • Measles virus / isolation & purification
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Travel
  • World Health Organization
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral