A Toddler Becomes the Tenth Measles Death in Israel's Outbreak

A toddler aged one and a half who had not been vaccinated against measles died of the disease after being brought to hospital in critical condition, Israel's Ministry of Health said on 23 November 2025.

The ministry said this was the tenth death since the outbreak began, and that most of those who have died were healthy children with no underlying illness who had not been vaccinated. It urged people to seek medical care promptly when symptoms appear or when infection is suspected. The statement did not identify the child or say where the family lived.

How the outbreak started

Genomic and epidemiological work published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases traced the main cluster to a single imported case from Belgium in April 2025. The study, published in September 2026 and covering the period to February 2026, described roughly 3,200 cases and 16 deaths, making it Israel's largest measles outbreak since 2018-19. Of the reported cases, about 83 per cent were in people who had never been vaccinated and a further 7 per cent in the partly vaccinated.

The same analysis found national coverage of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine had slipped to about 83 per cent for the first dose and 87 per cent for the second, below the level needed to stop sustained transmission. Israel's Health Ministry schedules the vaccine at ages one and six, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Why the death rate has been so high

An analysis published in JAMA Health Forum using figures to 25 February 2026 counted 3,140 confirmed cases, 60 per cent of them in children aged one to four, and 16 deaths, a case-fatality rate of 0.51 per cent. Over a comparable period the United States recorded 2,242 cases and three deaths, and Europe 8,826 cases and ten deaths, rates of 0.13 and 0.11 per cent. All 16 of the children who had died by that point were unvaccinated and from ultra-Orthodox Jewish families, the authors recorded.

What changed after vaccination drives

Catch-up campaigns launched from September 2025 lifted coverage in the worst-affected places: among children aged one to six, Jerusalem rose from 77 to 84 per cent and Beit Shemesh from 72 to 82.6 per cent, the JAMA Health Forum analysis reported. The outbreak nonetheless continued into 2026. By 18 March 2026 the Jerusalem Post reported the death toll had reached 17, again noting that most of those who died were unvaccinated but otherwise healthy children and infants.

What is still unclear

The ministry's announcement did not say how long the child had been ill before reaching hospital, whether the family had been offered vaccination, or where the infection was contracted. It also did not break down the ten deaths recorded up to that point by age or place.