Confirmed cases of measles in England by month, age, region and upper-tier local authority: 2025
Updated 8 May 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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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. Here we present the epidemiology for measles from 1 January 2025. Data for 2023 and 2024 and historical data is available.
Since 1 January 2025, there have been 320 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England, an increase of 107 cases since the last report on 10 April 2025 (Figures 1 and 2).
Summary
The number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by month of symptom onset in 2025 to date are:
- January: 89
- February: 69
- March: 70
- April: 91
- May: 1 (to date)
The UKHSA data dashboard provides tabular data on the total number of cases by week of onset in 2025.
The majority (197/320, 62%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 32% (102/320) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). 33% (104/320) of these cases have been in London, 17% (53/320) in the South West, and 16% (50/320) in the East of England. 71 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 (42/320, 13%), Leeds (32/320, 10%) and Essex (22/320, 7%) (Table 2a).
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 71 laboratory confirmed measles cases with symptom onset date in the 4 weeks since 7 April 2025. Data reporting lags have the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. London accounted for the highest proportion of these cases (48%, 34/71). 20% (14/71) of cases have been in the East of England, and 10% (7/71) in the North West. 29 UTLAs have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since 7 April 2025.
Figure 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by month of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2012 to 5 May 2025
Figure 2. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2025 to 5 May 2025
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 5 May 2025
| Age Group (years) | East Midlands | East of England | London | North East | North West | South East | South West | West Midlands | Yorkshire and Humber | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| under 1 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 44 |
| 1 to 4 | 5 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 93 |
| 5 to10 | 0 | 17 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 60 |
| 11 to 14 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
| 15 to 24 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| 25 to 34 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 36 |
| 35+ | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 30 |
| Total | 18 | 50 | 104 | 6 | 27 | 9 | 53 | 13 | 40 | 320 |
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 2. Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by region and upper-tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2025 to 5 May 2025
| Upper Tier Local Authority (UTLA) | Region | Total Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol | South West | 42 |
| Leeds | Yorkshire and Humber | 32 |
| Essex | East of England | 22 |
| Newham | London | 19 |
| Hertfordshire | East of England | 17 |
| Waltham Forest | London | 17 |
| Harrow | London | 14 |
| North Northamptonshire | East Midlands | 10 |
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
Please note that this page will be updated every 4 weeks. The next scheduled update is 5 June 2025.