London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

eliminated measles, a viral disease that can cause severe health problems, including pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and even death.

Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated from the Americas, after the regional eradication of smallpox in 1971, poliomyelitis in 1994, and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015.

The declaration was made by the International Expert Committee for Documenting and Verifying Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome Elimination in the Americas. The achievement comes after a 22-year effort involving mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the Americas.

Commenting on the news Dr Sebastian Funk, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, said:

"This is a fantastic achievement and a great testimony to the concerted efforts of public health agencies across the Americas. However, it gives no reason for complacency. As long as the virus is circulating in the rest of the world, regions that have managed to eliminate measles will have to maintain high levels of immunity to prevent measles from causing outbreaks in the future.

"Apart from being great news for the region, it also provides encouragement for prospects of worldwide measles eradication. Much work remains to be done in the rest of the world though, including Europe where we continue to see outbreaks."

Related links

• What will it take to eliminate measles in the UK? - blog
• How close we are to ridding the world of polio? - blog
• Why we shouldn't get so depressed about vaccine hesitancy - blog
• The Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases
• The Vaccine Confidence project website