A 13 year old boy is the first person in the UK to die from measles in over a decade.

The Health Protection Agency says the victim was from a traveling family living in the northwest of England at the time.

A string of measles outbreaks throughout England and Wales traveling communities have so far led to 100 cases of measles in 2006 compared to 76 in all of 2005.

The boy, who also suffered an underlying lung condition, had not been inoculated for the measles, mumps or rubella.