Over the past week, on the Pacific island of Samoa, measles-related deaths (mostly among children) have more than tripled to 20 people. The government has announced eight days after the outbreak entered a state of emergency.
The island nation is only 200,000, located south of the equator, between Hawaii and New Zealand, and a measles epidemic was announced in late October after the first death.
The government said last Friday that 1,644 suspected cases of measles had been detected, more than doubling in the past week, and the number of deaths had risen from six to 20. Children under five are responsible for one of the deaths.
UNICEF said in a statement that UNICEF staff were spread across Samoa this week to step up its mandatory immunisation efforts, and 110,500 doses of measles-containing vaccine have been distributed.