Dozens of measles cases reported in the Netherlands to date in 2025
In 2025, 63 patients with measles have been reported to various  Municipal Health Services (GGD) regions in the Netherlands. The cases are mainly people who contracted measles abroad and their (usually unvaccinated) contacts.
Since the previous update in mid-February, 29 new reports of measles have been received by the RIVM. There is no national outbreak. However, there is a cluster of children with measles around a school in the GGD region of Brabant-Zuidoost. There are also several family clusters. Including in the GGD regions of West-Brabant and Rotterdam-Rijnmond. The GGDs involved are conducting source and contact research.
In the Netherlands, 16 patients were reported in 2025 who contracted measles in Morocco and 3 people who contracted measles in Romania. There are major measles epidemics in those countries. There are also measles outbreaks in several other countries. The measles epidemic in Morocco has been going on for a long time. Tens of thousands of people have been reported with measles and more than 100 people have died.
How contagious is measles? What is R0?
Since 1976, vaccination against measles has been offered through the National Vaccination Program. Since then, the number of people who get measles has been low. However, we do see a larger outbreak in the Netherlands every 10-15 years. This is because there are groups that do not get vaccinated. The last large outbreak in the Netherlands was in 2013-2014. In Europe, the number of people who get infected with the measles virus has been increasing since last year.
It is important that people get vaccinated when traveling to a country where measles is common. This applies to adults who have not yet been vaccinated and were born after 1965. It is also important for children to get their MMR vaccination on time(mumps, measles, rubella)(mumps, measles, rubella). Especially if they travel to a country where measles is common. People can get sick from measles and bring the disease to the Netherlands and spread it in their environment.