--- title: WHO Urges Mass Measles Vaccinations in Ebola Regions description: The World Health Organization is urging vaccination for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough in Ebola-affected countries canonical: https://time.com/3752436/ebola-measles-vaccination/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-20T18:10:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:57.918Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Urges Mass Measles Vaccinations in Ebola Regions og:description: The World Health Organization is urging vaccination for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough in Ebola-affected countries og:url: https://time.com/3752436/ebola-measles-vaccination/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36e26313bdf7a11b/69878489a988cadd916ad05a/ebola-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Guinea Ebola Vaccine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Urges Mass Measles Vaccinations in Ebola Regions twitter:description: The World Health Organization is urging vaccination for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough in Ebola-affected countries twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36e26313bdf7a11b/69878489a988cadd916ad05a/ebola-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WHO Urges Mass Measles Vaccinations in Ebola Regions by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 20, 2015 6:10 PM UTC  A health worker, right, cleans a man's arm before injecting him with a Ebola vaccine in Conakry, Guinea, March 7, 2015. A health worker, right, cleans a man's arm before injecting him with a Ebola vaccine in Conakry, Guinea, March 7, 2015.Youssouf Bah—AP by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 20, 2015 6:10 PM UTC The World Health Organization (WHO) is [urging mass vaccination](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/vaccination-ebola-countries/en/) for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough in Ebola-affected countries. The organization says the risk for additional outbreaks is high due to interrupted immunization practices in the area. The agency is calling for an “intensification” in routine vaccinations, and a measles vaccination push in countries that no longer have Ebola cases. In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia resources and personnel shifted away from usual immunizations to tackling the Ebola outbreak which has infected more than 24,700 people and killed more than 10,190. **MORE:** [Why West Africa Might Soon Have 100,000 More Measles Cases](http://time.com/3742361/ebola-measles-alliance/) “Any disruption of immunization services, even for short periods, will result in an increase in the number of susceptible individuals, and will increase the likelihood of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,” the WHO said in a recent letter to officials in susceptible West African countries. The announcement comes after researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health [published](http://time.com/3742361/ebola-measles-alliance/) a study earlier in March in the journal _Science_ predicting that there could be an outbreak of up to 100,000 measles cases over the next 18 months in Ebola-affected areas if nothing is done to amend disrupted vaccine programs. “When there’s a disruption of medical services, measles is always one of the first ones in the door,” study author Justin Lessler [told TIME](http://time.com/3742361/ebola-measles-alliance/). Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone are rolling out immunizations for several preventable diseases in regions of the countries that are Ebola-free. Liberia and Guinea have targeted children under the age of five for measles vaccinations since they are at a high risk for infection. Read more about the risk for measles amid Ebola [here](http://time.com/3742361/ebola-measles-alliance/). ### PHOTOS: See How a Photographer is Covering Ebola’s Deadly Spread  Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, under contract from the Liberian Ministry of Health, remove the body of suspected Ebola victim Lorpu David, 30, on Sept. 18, 2014, in the Gurley street community in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, remove the body of woman, 75, a suspected Ebola victim on Sept. 18, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A burial team collects the body of a 75-year-old woman in a neighborhood called PHP in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A resident of the West Point neighborhood covers his nose as a burial team leaves with a body in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 17, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Members of a burial team from the Liberian Red Cross remove the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, from a home in Matadi on Sept. 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A member of a Liberian Red Cross burial team is disinfected, with chlorine sprayed on by a colleague, after having removed the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 6, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Residents look on as the body of a man suspected of dying from Ebola lies in a busy street after it was reportedly dragged there to draw the attention of burial teams. For several days, his family had asked for the body to be picked up, to no avail. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 15, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Friends and relatives weep as a burial team removes the body of a 75-year-old woman. Her neighbors insisted she had died of a stroke. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Eric Gweah, 25, grieves as he watches members of a Red Cross burial team carry the body his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, in a riverside area called Rock Spring Valley in central Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014\. Ofori Gweah had endured Ebolaís telltale symptoms for six days, his family took him to treatment centers twice, only to be turned back. So many Ebola victims are dying at home due to a severe shortage of treatment centers in Monrovia, and many of the ill are infecting family members, neighbors and others in a ballooning circle of contagion. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Residents discuss an Ebola awareness campaign in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 30, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Residents of the West Point neighborhood attend church after a 10-day quarantine was lifted in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 31, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  James Dorbor, 8, suspected to have Ebola, lays on the ground as his father Edward tried to get the boy to drink coconut water. They waited for James to be admitted into the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Edward Dorbor reacts after believing that his son, James Dorbor, 8, had died. However, the boy survived for a few additional hours before dying at the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Medical staff rush into the treatment facility, carrying James Dorbor, 8, suspected of having Ebola. Since the health workers weren't wearing the appropriate protection against Ebola, they positioned James' body in a way to limit exposure to the deadly virus. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 5, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A relative grieves as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team dress themselves in full protective clothing prior to removing the body of suspected Ebola victim, Ofori Gweah, 62, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Medical staff spray down a small plastic bag containing the blood sample of Hawa Konneh, 9, a suspected Ebola victim, as she lays on the dirt wrapped in a shawl in front of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Ebola treatment center, as her mother, Masogbe, sits near to her prior to Hawa's passing away on Sept. 4, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Marvin Gweah, 28, is overcome by emotion as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team carry away the body of his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. 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