SUVA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Samoan government confirmed two more deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll in the island nation's measles outbreak to 22 since mid-October this year.
According to a government statement, Samoa's Ministry of Health said that 22 measles-related deaths have been reported with two fatalities in the past 24 hours.
The ministry confirmed that a total of 1,797 measles cases have been recorded by the Disease Surveillance Team so far, with 153 cases reported in the last 24 hours.
Most of the measles cases are in the island of Upolu, where the Samoan capital of Apia is located in. About 92 percent of current measles admissions are children, including 11 ill children in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
There are 147 measles patients who are in-patients at all health facilities.
The South Pacific island nation is in a state of emergency, with all schools closed, a mass vaccination campaign underway and public gatherings in the nation restricted.
A total of 32,743 vaccinations were completed before the mass vaccination campaign, which was activated last Wednesday on special fixed sites by mobile outreach vaccination teams, targeting areas with low immunization coverage.
