Measles cases in the European region surged last year to reach their highest levels since 1997, the World Health Organization and the UN’s children agency, UNICEF, said Thursday.

Global organizations have warned that measles cases are now as high as they have been for the past quarter century.

BERLIN (Reuters) -Measles cases in the European region doubled in 2024 to a more than 25-year-high, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF said on Thursday, as they urged action to boost vaccination levels that declined during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of measles cases in the European region doubled last year to reach the highest level in 25 years, health officials say. A joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children's fund, Unicef, said children under the age of five accounted for more than 40% of the cases reported in Europe and central Asia.

In the European region, Romania reported the highest number of cases in 2024, followed by Kazakhstan. Less than 80% of eligible children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania were vaccinated against the virus in 2023, below the 95% coverage rate required to retain herd immunity.