Measles outbreak in Ethiopia amid COVID-19: an effect of war-induced hampering of vaccination and pandemic

Abstract

Measles, a highly infectious viral disease, is a leading cause of death among young children in many developing countries, including Ethiopia. Despite Ethiopia being the first large country to conduct a mass immunization campaign for measles in 2020 following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, in which over 14.5 million children in the country were vaccinated, there was another outbreak of measles in the country in the year 2022, especially in the eastern parts of the country. According to the WHO, a total of 9850 measles cases were suspected, out of which 5806 cases were confirmed, with 56 deaths (CFR=0.6%) in Ethiopia from January to 30 September 2022. The total number of cases crossed 10 000 cases by the end of October 2022. Amid COVID-19 and war times in Ethiopia posed serious challenges for the under-5 children to get access to vaccination against measles. We, therefore, urge the Ethiopian government to reach an amicable and diplomatic agreement with the civilians causing internal and intraethnic wars in the country as soon as possible, as this would prevent further hampering of measles vaccination for the Ethiopian people, most especially the children.