Steep rise in measles in U.S... after Centers for Disease Control said it had been eliminated in 2000

Measles cases in the United States hit a 15-year high in 2011.

Ninety percent of the cases were traced to other countries with lower immunisation rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

There were 222 cases of measles in the United States last year, more than triple the usual number, said the CDC.

There had been only about 60 cases per year between 2001 and 2010.

No one has died of the disease in the United States since 2008 but approximately 20 million people contract the measles virus each year worldwide, and about 164,000 die from it, said Dr Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases. Read More