MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th December, 2019) The government of Samoa on Saturday has decided to end the state of emergency that had been declared in the Pacific island nation weeks ago due to a deadly outbreak of measles, Samoan media reported.
The measles outbreak in Samoa began in October and hit painfully the small island of 200,000 with an alarmingly low level of vaccination. With the number of fatalities steadily on rise, the government declared state of emergency on November 16 and mandatory immunization on November 20. As of Sunday, the deathtoll stands at 81, with 5,667 reported cases and 95 percent of the population having been vaccinated.
According to Samoa Global news citing the government's press release, the cabinet unanimously decided to cancel the state of emergency.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that is normally transmitted through fluids in the respiratory system. It starts with cold-like symptoms like high fever and runny nose and gradually develops into a full-body rash, at which point the immune system is already too weakened to fight the infection.
Measles can be effectively prevented by immunization. The measles vaccine was developed in the 1960s and comes either alone or in a combination with vaccines for mumps, rubella and varicella.
