Schools in the Pacific island nation of Samoa were closed indefinitely on Monday and children have been barred from public gatherings amid a measles epidemic that has killed at least six people, most of them younger than age 2. As Samoa, a country of about 200,000 people that is part of the same island chain as American Samoa, declared an emergency last week, health officials said they were “anticipating the worst to come.”At least 716 potential cases of measles have been recorded, and almost 100 people have been hospitalized. Among those killed were three siblings from one family, according to the New Zealand broadcast channel 1News. But the number of cases and deaths is most likely higher, experts said, calling the Samoan government’s response to the epidemic delayed.

Source: New York Times November 18, 2019 10:30 UTC