United States loses measles-free status - report

The United States has lost its status as a measles-free country after more than a quarter of a century, according to media reports published on Saturday.

A panel of experts from the Pan American Health Organization decided the US no longer meets the criteria for this status, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others reported, citing sources familiar with the decision.

An official announcement is expected on Tuesday.

The decision is due to the continuous transmission of the same strain of measles in the US for at least 12 months.

The US was granted measles-free status in 2000, a classification which does not mean that there are no longer any infections at all, but that there are no sustained local chains of transmission.

There have been repeated large-scale outbreaks of the highly contagious disease in the US since the start of last year.

So far, 5,412 infections have been recorded this year as of November 12, more than twice as many as in the whole of the previous year, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several deaths have been reported in connection with measles, including among children.

Specialists attribute the outbreaks primarily to falling vaccination rates. The vaccination rate for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine among nursery school children fell from 95.2% to 92.4% within six years, the CDC said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccination coverage rate of at least 95% with two doses is required to prevent the long-term spread of measles.

To regain its status as a measles-free country, the US would need to interrupt the ongoing transmission of the virus for at least 12 months and provide evidence of this.