MELBOURNE — 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 that has spread across the Pacific islands. The island state of just 200,000, south of the equator and half way between Hawaii and New Zealand, declared a measles epidemic late in October after the first deaths were reported. Of the 716 suspected cases of measles, 40% required hospitalization. As of the weekend, vaccination "for members of the public who have not yet received a vaccination injection, is now a mandatory legal requirement", the government said in a statement. Only about two-thirds of the population has been immunized, according to the health ministry.

Source: New York Times November 17, 2019 02:27 UTC