England measles epidemiology 2025

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2025.

Situational update

In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually, since 2012. This was initially driven by an outbreak in Birmingham but was soon overtaken by a large outbreak in London, with small clusters in other regions. Case counts followed a downward trajectory from mid-July with small, localised outbreaks continuing in some regions. Data for 2023 and 2024 and historical data are available.

Summary

Since 1 January 2025, there have been 91 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England (Figures 1 and 2): 81 in January and 10 so far in February. The majority (54 of 91, 59%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 32% (29 of 91) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). 31% (28 of 91) of these cases have been in Yorkshire and Humber, 29% (26 of 91) in the South West, and 12% (11 of 91) in the East of England. 25 upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2025, with the highest numbers reported in Bristol (25 of 91, 27%) and Leeds (24 of 91, 26%) (Table 2a).

The UKHSA data dashboard provides tabular data on the total number of cases by week of onset in 2025. The vaccination status of all confirmed cases is published quarterly in the related health protection reports.

No acute measles-related deaths have been reported so far in 2025. Information on historical measles-related deaths is available on the notifications and deaths webpage.

Recent activity

There have been 59 laboratory confirmed measles cases with symptom onset date in the 4 weeks since 13 January 2025. Data reporting lags have the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. The South West accounted for the highest proportion of these cases (31%, 18 of 59). 29% (17 of 59) of cases have been in Yorkshire and Humber, and 14% (8 of 59) in the East of England. 20 UTLAs have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since 13 January 2025, with the highest number of cases reported in Bristol (n=18) and Leeds (n=14) (Table 2b).

Figure 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by month of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2012 to 10 February 2025 [notes 1 and 2]

Figure 2. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2025 to 10 February 2025 [notes 1 and 2]

Note 1: Cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Note 2: Data are provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

The data reporting lag has had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. For this reason, these data points are represented by dotted lines.

Table 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by age group and region in England: 1 January 2025 to 10 February 2025 [note 3]

Age group	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and Humber	England
less than 1 year	3	2	0	0	1	0	2	0	3	11
1 to 4 years	2	2	4	1	0	0	6	0	10	25
5 to 10 years	0	5	2	0	2	0	4	0	5	18
11 to 14 years	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	3	8
15 to 24 years	2	1	2	0	1	1	2	0	2	11
25 to 34 years	0	0	3	0	1	0	5	0	2	11
35 years and older	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	3	7
Total	7	11	11	1	6	1	26	0	28	91

Note 3: Data are provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

Table 2a. Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2025 to 10 February 2025 [note 4]

Upper Tier Local Authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Bristol	South West	25
Leeds	Yorkshire and Humber	24

Note 4: Case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases.

Data are provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after obtaining further epidemiological information or undergoing confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

Table 2b. Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 13 January 2025 to 10 February 2025 [note 5]

Upper Tier Local Authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Bristol	South West	18
Leeds	Yorkshire and Humber	14

Note 5: Case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases.

Data are provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after obtaining further epidemiological information or undergoing confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

The data reporting lag has had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity.

Please note that this page will be updated every 4 weeks. The next scheduled update is 13 March 2025.