Dutch measles clusters growing fast: Cases exceed all of 2024 in just three months
Measles infections in the Netherlands have already surpassed the total number recorded in all of 2024, the Dutch public health institute RIVM reported Wednesday. A preliminary total of 209 cases have already been diagnosed during the first three months of 2025, compared to 203 for the entire previous year, and several clusters of infections are growing, the RIVM said.
The current number of infections marks the highest count since 2013, when 2,688 cases were diagnosed. That year saw the most measles infections in the Netherlands in available data from the past half-century. Other years with high totals include 1976 with 2,512 cases and 1999 with 2,364.
Measles infections have been identified in 11 of the 25 regional GGD public health districts across the Netherlands this year. The RIVM is closely monitoring the situation, especially the possibility of the contagious disease spreading as the result of gatherings during the recent Eid al-Fitr holiday, with Easter coming up on April 20, and the next school vacation period fast approaching at the end of the month. The Remembrance Day memorial ceremonies and Liberation Day holiday will also take place soon.
The Rotterdam-Rijnmond region has experienced the highest concentration of infections per capita in recent weeks. During the period from Feb. 19 to April 1, the region recorded 3.664 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. Flevoland followed with 3.549 per capita, and Amsterdam reported 2.81 per 100,000 residents.
Other regions with notable per capita infection rates in the same six-week period include Brabant-Zuidoost at 1.977, and Haaglanden with 1.548. Infections were also detected in Gelderland-Zuid (1.201), West-Brabant (0.825), Utrecht (0.571), Groningen (0.333), Hollands-Midden (0.237), and Kennemerland (0.177).
The city of Rotterdam also has the worst rate vaccination against mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) out of the five largest municipalities in the country. The Rotterdam MMR vaccination rate is 80.7 percent, followed by Amsterdam at 83.2 percent, The Hague at 83.8 percent, Eindhoven at 87.9 percent, and Utrecht at 89.3 percent.
The lowest MMR vaccination rates are in the municipalities of Neder-Betuwe, with 54.5 percent population having received the vaccine. Urk also has a low rate with 59.7 percent of the population vaccinated against MMR, and Reimerswaal ranked third-lowest at 61.4 percent.
Clusters of measles have previously been identified at five primary schools located in the regions of Amsterdam, Brabant-Zuidoost, Haaglanden, Rotterdam-Rijnmond, and Flevoland. The RIVM noted that these schools generally have low vaccination coverage rates, and are public schools with either a Muslim or holistic anthroposophical school board.
"The GGDs in the affected regions are conducting source and contact tracing and advising measures to prevent measles from spreading," the RIVM said. "There have also been reported cases of measles spreading within families. These cases also involved people who were not protected against measles: they had not been vaccinated and had not previously had measles."
"There is no national outbreak of measles at this time," the RIVM stressed. Many of the infections from earlier in the year were diagnosed in people who visited Morocco. That figure stands at 25, with three more infected in Romania, one in Vietnam and another in Belgium. "Measles is also on the rise in other European countries."
The GGD offices are actively engaged in source and contact tracing to understand the spread of the virus. They are also providing guidance and advising on measures to prevent further transmission within the school communities and the broader public.
"It is also important for adults to get vaccinated before travelling to a country where there are many people who have measles. By getting vaccinated, people protect themselves and lower the risk that they will bring the disease with them to the Netherlands and spread it in the area where they live," the RIVM said.
