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The province of Malaga has registered a total of 39 cases of measles so far this year, seven more than last week, compared to a total of 67 recorded in Andalucía so far in 2025, according to the regional ministry of health and consumer affairs.
This week, a new outbreak has been declared in the Hospital de La Axarquía, in Vélez-Málaga, consisting of one confirmed case, imported from Morocco, and two probable cases, pending confirmation, which are the health professionals who attended the infected person in the hospital's emergency room.
The province currently has three outbreaks under surveillance, as the two outbreaks of last week have been joined by the one in Vélez, which will almost certainly add a couple of positive cases of health workers.
In view of this, the regional government published a new measles surveillance and alert protocol, which has been in force for more than two months. Among other new features, this protocol establishes that health centres will review the susceptibility to measles of their professionals, even in the absence of suspected cases, and will update their vaccination schedule. The aim of this measure is to avoid contagion among professionals who may attend to a suspected case that arrives at a consultation or hospital emergency room.
The directorate general for public health and pharmaceutical management has also updated the section on the use of polyvalent immunoglobulin. For outbreak control, it plans to bring forward the second dose from 15 months of age for all children who have yet to complete the MMR vaccination schedule and who reside in an affected area, to actively identify susceptible individuals, or to implement other control measures depending on the magnitude and risk of the outbreak spreading.
In Almería, seven cases have been registered (one in Adra, three in El Ejido, one in Níjar, one in Roquetas de Mar and one in Vera); in Granada city three; in Huelva, 16 cases (one in Calañas, two in Gibraleón, one in Huelva city, four in Lucena del Puerto, two in Moguer, three in Palos de la Frontera, one in San Bartolomé de la Torre and two in San Juan del Puerto); in Malaga 39 cases (one in Álora, one in Casabermeja, nine in Fuengirola, 16 in Malaga city, two in Marbella, seven in Mijas, one in Ojén, one in Rincón de la Victoria and one in Torrox) and in Seville two cases have been registered in the capital. In Malaga, the majority of cases are concentrated mainly in the Costa del Sol Health District (19 cases) and Malaga District (17 cases).
Since the beginning of the year, 67 confirmed cases of measles have been declared in Andalucía, nine more than last week. Four correspond to a family outbreak in Malaga, which were pending confirmation, all adults; three imported cases from Morocco (one in Almeria and two in Malaga), also in adults; a 45-year-old woman from Malaga, source unknown, and a case in Seville in a 13-month-old child which had a vaccination two weeks before the onset of symptoms. This case is pending genotyping to determine whether it is post-vaccination measles.
Therefore, a total of eleven outbreaks have been declared in 2025 to date, of which six are still active and another five have already been declared closed. Malaga has a family outbreak with three confirmed cases, of unknown source declared on 18 March; a more recent one, declared on 14 April with four cases confirmed this week in the same family; in addition to the outbreak declared in the health sector, specifically in the Hospital La Axarquia in Malaga, declared on 29 April.
The incidence of confirmed cases has been on a downward trend in recent weeks. Moreover, for the past eight weeks, cases have occurred only in adults, mainly between 26 and 47 years of age, except for the case of the 13-month-old child in Seville. Most of these cases are imported from Morocco.
The regional health ministry explained that measles is an infection that is easily transmitted, can be severe and can affect both children and unvaccinated adults. For this reason, it recommends vaccinating children according to the established guidelines and adults who are not known to be vaccinated in order to protect those who cannot be vaccinated (children under 12 months of age, who represent 14 per cent of the cases reported in Andalucía).
Morocco has been experiencing a major measles outbreak since October 2023, which has spread throughout the country with more than 40,000 cases reported, including 150 deaths. There has also been 3,012 cases in 15 EU countries up to 15 April; 712 confirmed cases in the United States, with two deaths, until 10 April; and 731 in Canada until 11 April. Additionally, the presence of susceptible pockets that may be significant in certain districts, along with the seasonality of measles (spring), suggests that new outbreaks can be expected in the coming weeks and months. The department of health and consumer affairs will provide a weekly report every Tuesday with updated data.
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