We report 52 cases of measles linked to music and arts festivals in England and Wales, between mid-June and mid-October 2016. Nearly half were aged 15 to 19 years. Several individuals who acquired measles at one festival subsequently attended another festival while infectious, resulting in multiple interlinked outbreaks. Transmission within festivals resulted in a geographical spread of cases nationally as well as internationally, which presents particular challenges for measles control.
Keywords: Europe; United Kingdom; airborne infections; epidemiology; mass gatherings; measles; measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine; outbreaks; vaccines and immunisation; viral infections.
This article is copyright of The Authors, 2016.