The measles outbreak registered between December 2013 and December 2014 in the state of Ceará, in which 681 cases of the disease were reported, may have been caused by a viral strain imported from Europe, according to an article recently published by researchers from the Federal University of Ceará (Emerging Infectious Diseases, September 9, 2015). Phylogenetic analyses of the viral population behind the disease’s reemergence in Ceará showed that the only identified strain of the pathogen, D8, is the same as currently found in the Old World. Measles had not been considered endemic in Brazil since 2000, largely due to nationwide introduction of the MMR vaccine into the basic immunization calendar for children up to age 1.
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