More than 60 people,including many children,have died as a measles outbreak sweeps the island nation. How big is the problem and where else in the world is measles on the march?
The sheer volume of patients presenting to Samoa’s dedicated measles emergency department was like nothing this veteran paediatric nurse had ever experienced.
Samoan PM makes emotional plea to parents after announcing a government shutdown to redeploy workers to fight the deadly disease outbreak.
A deadly measles outbreak on the Pacific island of Samoa has killed 44 children under the age of four.
The World Health Organisation said multiple large outbreaks are being reported across Africa,Europe,Latin America and the Middle East.
Deaths related to measles,mostly among small children,have more than tripled to 20 in the past week on the Pacific island of Samoa.
A man who travelled to Samoa was diagnosed with measles upon his return,with health authorities urging people to vaccinate before travelling.
Samoa declared a state of emergency this weekend,closing all schools and cracking down on public gatherings,after several deaths linked to a measles outbreak.
The highly infectious disease has now gained a foothold in the south-east,with dozens of new cases forcing health authorities to take a defensive posture to contain its spread.
A major measles outbreak in and around Brisbane has expanded,with authorities worried about a school in Redlands ahead of end-of-year events.
If a person who has received vaccinations for other diseases contracts measles,it may wipe out the protection those vaccines had provided,the researchers said.