The government of Samoa is shutting down all public services for two days to fight a measles outbreak that has killed 60 people and infected thousands of others in the South Pacific island nation over the past two months. Nearly 3,900 cases of measles have been reported in the country, whose population is just 200,000. S chools have been shuttered since the government declared the outbreak a national emergency last month. Worldwide, more than 140,000 people died from measles last year, according to estimates released on Tuesday by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. In Samoa, where vaccination rates are low, more than 150 new cases of infection were disclosed on Monday alone.

Source: New York Times December 03, 2019 17:48 UTC