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Measles vaccinations must be immediately stepped up across Europe and central Asia after a series of outbreaks, the World Health Organization says, the BBC reports.

Officials say they have been "taken aback" by more than 22,000 cases in 2014 and the first months of this year.

The WHO demands that counties control the outbreaks with "no exception".

It say the surges threaten the goal of eliminating measles in the region by the end of 2015.

Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, said: "When we consider that over the past two decades we have seen a reduction of 96% in the number of measles cases in the European region, and that we are just a step away from eliminating the disease, we are taken aback by these numbers.

"We must collectively respond, without further delay, to close immunization gaps.

"It is unacceptable that, after the last 50 years' efforts to make safe and effective vaccines available, measles continues to cost lives, money and time."