The global number of reported cases of measles infection has increased threefold in the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Monday.

The latest increase points to a continued trend which has been going on for the past two years, and which is thought to have been caused by lower vaccination rates in many countries around the world.

According to WHO data, 170 countries worldwide reported some 112,000 cases in the first quarter of 2019, up from 28,000 cases in the same period in 2018. However, the rate of increase over the last twelve month varied by region – African countries saw a 700 percent increase in cases, Europe 300 percent, the Eastern Mediterranean 100 percent.

The actual number of cases may even be higher as WHO estimates say less than one out of ten cases get reported.

“Many countries are in the midst of sizeable measles outbreaks, with all regions of the world experiencing sustained rises in cases. Current outbreaks include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Philippines, Sudan, Thailand and Ukraine, causing many deaths – mostly among young children,” the WHO said in a press release.

WHO experts warned that measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, which caused some 110,000 deaths globally in 2017.

Although the disease is almost entirely preventable by administering two doses of vaccine, the global coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine has stalled at 85 percent, WHO said, which is short of the 95 percent thought to be needed to prevent outbreaks. The second dose coverage currently stands at 67 percent globally, WHO said.

In recent months, spikes in case numbers were also recorded in countries with high overall vaccination coverage, including the United States of America, where an outbreak which started in October led to almost 300 confirmed cases in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn in New York City.