Man offers $138K to whoever can prove measles exists. The world responds accordingly.

He promised to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to people who could prove measles exists. Now he has to pay up.

A German biologist has been court-ordered to pay up 100,000 euros ($AUD138,348) to anyone who could prove measles is a virus.

Stefan Lanka pledged on his website four years ago, to give the large sum of money to anyone who could disprove his theory that measles is psychosomatic.

Unsurprisingly, they could.

German doctor, David Barden, used evidence from a variety of medical studies to prove measles is indeed a virus, and promptly took Mr Lanka to court to pay up.

Related content: Does this baby deserve to be exposed to the measles?

BBC reports, a Ravensburg court found Dr Barden had provided sufficient evidence to be awarded the 100,000 euros.

Unfortunately, Mr Lanka refuses to be convinced and vowed to make an appeal.

“It is a psychosomatic illness,” he told local newspaper Suedkurier. “People become ill after traumatic separations.”

Oh dear. Some people just can’t be told.

*Related content: Do you have the save-the-date vaccinations app?

According to the International Business Times, a recent outbreak of measles has swept Germany, with more than 782 cases reported since October last year.

After the recent death of an 18-month-old baby in Berlin, the nation is considering mandatory vaccinations.

Do you think there should be a penalty for measles-deniers?