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There have been 440 confirmed cases of measles in England so far this year. These cases are linked to “ongoing large outbreaks in Europe”, according to government agency Public Health England.

These cases were all confirmed by laboratory tests, occurring between 1 January and 9 May. This is a 65 per cent increase on the same period in 2017, which saw 267 confirmed cases in England.

Of this year’s cases, 164 have been in London, 78 in the West Midlands, and 37 in West Yorkshire.

There are currently large measles outbreaks underway in Italy and Romania. “We’d encourage people to ensure they are up to date with their MMR vaccine before travelling to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks,” says Mary Ramsay, of Public Health England.

Read more: Cases of measles in Europe have quadrupled in just one year