Last Updated on April 25, 2026 10:53 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged immediate steps to contain the measles outbreak in Bangladesh, warning that transmission is likely to continue unless surveillance is strengthened, suspected cases are detected faster and vaccination coverage improves.
In a report released on Thursday, WHO assessed Bangladesh’s national measles risk as “high” because of ongoing transmission, a large number of susceptible children, immunity gaps and suspected measles-related deaths. The outbreak has spread to 58 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts.
WHO said Bangladesh must ensure at least 95% coverage with both doses of the measles-containing vaccine in all municipalities, strengthen surveillance in public and private healthcare facilities, improve monitoring in high-traffic border areas and deploy trained rapid response teams. It also called for activation of national protocols to contain imported cases, close coordination between national and local authorities, strict hospital isolation measures, and targeted vaccination of healthcare workers, transport and tourism staff, international travellers and migrant populations in border areas. It said maintaining vaccine stockpiles and ensuring access for displaced and underserved groups was critical.
Despite the outbreak, WHO said it does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions at this stage.
The agency said most cases were among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children, including infants too young to be vaccinated, and warned that the outbreak marked a setback to Bangladesh’s earlier progress towards measles elimination. It added that cross-border movement through hubs such as Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar had raised the threat, while regional risk remained high because of continued transmission in South-East Asia, especially India and Myanmar.
“Some children were infected before reaching the age of eligibility for vaccination at 9 months. Most cases (91%) occurred among children aged 1 to 14 years, indicating substantial immunity gaps in this age group,” the report said.
WHO said Bangladesh had earlier made strong progress, with first-dose coverage rising from 89% in 2000 to 118% in 2016 and second-dose coverage increasing from 22% in 2012 to 121% in 2024. But recent declines in MR1 and MR2 coverage due to a nationwide stockout of measles-rubella vaccines during 2024-25, gaps in routine immunisation and the absence of nationwide supplementary campaigns since 2020 had reversed those gains.
Bangladesh notified WHO on April 4, 2026, of a nationwide surge across all eight divisions. Between March 15 and April 14, 19,161 suspected cases and 2,897 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported, along with 166 suspected deaths, 30 confirmed deaths, 12,318 hospital admissions and 9,772 discharges.
The highest number of cases was reported in Dhaka with 8,263, followed by Rajshahi with 3,747, Chattogram with 2,514 and Khulna with 1,568. In Dhaka, infections were concentrated in densely populated settlements such as Demra, Jatrabari, Kamrangirchar, Korail, Mirpur and Tejgaon. Children under five accounted for 79% of cases, including 66% below two years and 33% infants under nine months. Most deaths were among unvaccinated children under two.
A nationwide measles-rubella vaccination campaign began on April 5. “Continued spread is likely unless urgent measures are implemented to strengthen surveillance, rapidly detect and respond to cases, and close immunity gaps through high-quality vaccination activities,” the report said.