Mass vaccinations have led to the U.S. and other countries in the Americas to eliminate measles, according to the World Health Organization.
The WHO said Tuesday that a 22-year-old effort for mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the Americas led to the declaration.
The declaration occurred despite a measles outbreak in California stemming from Disneyland, which was linked to declining measles vaccination rates. The outbreak sparked new attention on anti-vaxxers who believed there was a link between vaccines and autisim, which many studies have shown does not exist.
The WHO said that thanks to vaccines and other efforts, about 244,704 measles cases were reported worldwide in 2015. However, more than half of the reported cases were in Africa and Asia, the WHO saidTuesday.
Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated in the Americas, joining polio, smallpox, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.
Before massive vaccination campaigns started in 1980, measles caused nearly 2.6 million annual deaths worldwide, the WHO said.
