Kazakhstan’s healthcare officials remain confident amid measles outbreak in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is battling a measles outbreak. According to the local media, nearly 5,000 cases of measles, including eight fatalities, have been reported in the country since the beginning of the year. Despite the challenging situation in the neighboring nation, Kazakhstan’s Committee of Sanitary and Epidemiological Control told Kursiv.media that, in contrast, Kazakhstan has seen a 99% decrease in disease incidence.

«We are still registering measles cases across the country. Thanks to the measures undertaken, 229 such cases were reported in February 2025. This is a significant decrease compared to December 2023, when more than 10,000 cases were reported. This represents a 99% decrease in disease incidence,» the committee said in a statement.

Over the first two months of the year, 50,700 one-year-old children and 45,300 six-year-olds were vaccinated against measles in Kazakhstan.

The agency highlighted that during the previous outbreak, 1.5 million children were vaccinated as part of an additional immunization campaign in Kazakhstan, which is expected to have a positive impact on the situation in the country.

«In prospect, we expect to see a further decrease in disease incidence across the country,» the committee noted.

The incidence of measles and whooping cough in Kazakhstan began to rise in 2023. According to the Ministry of Healthcare, this was caused by a decline in herd immunity, driven by missed scheduled vaccinations and vaccine refusals. The first child death from whooping cough was recorded in the Karaganda region in June 2024.

According to healthcare authorities, by the end of May 2024, 70% of children in Kazakhstan had not been vaccinated, prompting officials to urge citizens to vaccinate their children. At the time, Kazakhstan had the highest number of measles cases in the European region. However, by December, the epidemiological situation on whooping cough and measles gradually stabilized in Kazakhstan.