A measles outbreak in Samoa has killed at least 53 people. The Samoan government has confirmed that the majority of the death poll is young children, and this has caused the government to take drastic steps to contain the crisis.

Moreover, 48 from the 53 people who have died in the outbreak have been under the age of 5. All of the victims were reportedly unvaccinated.

Due to measles outbreak in Samoa, the government has declared an emergency last month, mandating that all 200,000 people living on the island nation to get vaccinated. The last statistical update shows that 33,000 people were vaccinated before November, and since then another 58,000 people have been vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health of Samoa, has said that in the past 24 hours, there were another 198 cases of measles recorded, bringing the total to more than 3700.

Besides, 183 people remain in hospital, including 19 critically ill children.

Measles is a viral infection that starts in the respiratory system. The symptoms of measles generally appear within 10 to 12 days of exposure to the virus. They include: cough, fever, runny nose, red eyes, sore throat, white spots inside the mouth.

In 2017, the government of Maldives began a National campaign against measles. Health Protection Agency confirms that 95 percentage of the Maldivian population has successfully taken this Measles vaccination during that period. 

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