Research and analysis

Confirmed cases of measles in England by month, age, region and upper tier local authority: 2026

Updated 12 February 2026

Applies to England

England measles epidemiology 2026

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2026.

Situational update

In 2024, there were 2,911 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually in 2 decades. In 2025, there were a total of 959 laboratory-confirmed measles cases. Data for 2023 to 2025 and historical data is available.

Since 1 January 2026, there have been 96 laboratory-confirmed measles cases reported in England (Figures 1 and 2). Measles activity has increased in January 2026, mostly driven by an outbreak in North London (Table 1 and 2).

Summary

The number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by month of symptom onset in 2026 to date are:

• January: 95
• February: 1 (to date)

The UKHSA data dashboard provides tabular data on the total number of cases by week of onset in 2026.

The majority (74 of 96, 77%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 17% (16 of 96) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). A total of 64% (61 of 96) of these cases have been in London, 26% (25 of 96) in the West Midlands, and 4% (4 of 96) in the East Midlands. Twenty-two upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2026, with the highest numbers reported in Enfield (34 of 96, 35%) and Birmingham (21 of 96, 22%) (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 to date in 2026. Information on historical measles-related deaths is available on the notifications and deaths webpage.

Recent activity

There were 79 laboratory-confirmed measles cases with symptom onset date in the 4 weeks since 12 January 2026. 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 vast majority of these cases (71%, 56 of 79). Nineteen percent (15 of 79) of cases were in the West Midlands, and 4% (3 of 79) in the East of England. 18 UTLAs reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since 12 January 2026, with the highest number of cases reported in Enfield (n=34) and Birmingham (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 9 February 2026 [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 2026 to 9 February 2026 [notes 1 and 2]

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

Note 2: data is 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 2026 to 9 February 2026 [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	1	1	5	0	0	0	0	5	0	12
1 to 4 years	0	0	20	0	1	0	0	7	1	29
5 to 10 years	1	0	27	0	1	0	0	4	0	33
11 to 14 years	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	6
15 to 24 years	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	3
25 to 34 years	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	6
35 years and older	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	7
Total	4	3	61	0	2	0	0	25	1	96

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 2026 to 9 February 2026 [note 4]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Enfield	London	34
Birmingham	West Midlands	21

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

Data is 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: 12 January 2026 to 9 February 2026 [note 5]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Enfield	London	34
Birmingham	West Midlands	14

Note 4: case counts have been suppressed so as not to present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases

Data is 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.

This page is updated every 4 weeks. The next scheduled update is 12 March 2026.