Football stars are given emergency measles jabs to ward off outbreak

The total number of diagnosed cases in south-west Wales has now passed the 1,000 mark – and health bosses say around 5,000 youngsters still need vaccinating.

Bosses at League Cup winners Swansea insisted they have been pro-active in the face of the epidemic – and took no chances with the side’s multi-million-pound players as well as youngsters in the academy.

A spokesman said: “Given that the club is in the outbreak zone, we had a thorough check of which players had not received their second jabs.

“We’re not in a position to say who or how many received the inoculation, but I can confirm that all players and officials in the club are now up to date.

“Similar measures have been rolled out to youth players and letters have also been sent out to parents reminding them of the situation.”

Typical symptoms of measles include fever, cough, conjunctivitis and a rash. Complications are quite common even in healthy people, and about 20 per cent of reported measles cases experience one or more complication.

On Tuesday Public Health Wales said the total number of those diagnosed with measles since November 1, 2012 stood at 1,011. Of that total, 811 have been in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health board region – an area home to the Swans’ Liberty Stadium as well as where several first-team players live.

Club captain and former Barnsley player Garry Monk recently said his two-year-old daughter had been vaccinated – and urged parents to do the same.

“You should make sure you do everything you can to give your children the best chance,” he said.

“Getting them vaccinated is one way forward which I would encourage.”

In the meantime, the Welsh government said it had no plans to hold a public inquiry into the outbreak. It comes following a call by Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar, who said lessons needed to be learned.

A spokesman said: “The Welsh government, NHS and Public Health Wales will, of course, look at what lessons can be learned from the current measles outbreak, but there are no plans to hold a public inquiry.”