Swansea measles case expected to hit 1,000 at weekend as 50 new cases emerge in last two days

Lucy Butler,15, getting ready to have her measles jab at All Saints School in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside as a national vaccination catch-up campaign has been launched to curb a rise in measles cases in England (Owen Humphreys/PA)

More than 50 new cases of measles have been identified in the last two days in the Swansea area with the total expected to reach 1,000 by the weekend.

Figures released by Public Health Wales (PHW) showed that by this morning 942 cases had been identified, with 56 in the previous 48 hours and no sign of the epidemic slowing down. A failure by parents to ensure their children have received the MMR vaccination is blamed as a factor in the spread of the disease.

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for PHW, said: “The increase of cases shows that the outbreak is not easing up. No one should be complacent about the severity of measles. It can kill but can be prevented by a simple, safe vaccine.”

An official for the Swansea Coroner’s Office said post mortem tests confirmed that Gareth Williams, 25, who was found dead in his home in Port Tennant, Swansea, had the illness but that the cause of death remained inconclusive. Further tests have been ordered.