South Pacific
A measles outbreak in New Zealand has 2193 confirmed cases and two deaths. A measles outbreak in Tonga has 612 cases of measles. Samoa
A measles outbreak in Samoa in late 2019 has over 5,700 cases of measles and 83 deaths, out of a Samoan population of 200,000. Over three percent of the population were infected, and a state of emergency was declared from 17 November to 7 December. A vaccination campaign brought the measles vaccination rate from 31 to 34% in 2018 to an estimated 94% of the eligible population in December 2019. Africa
The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar have reported the highest numbers of cases in 2019. However, cases have decreased in Madagascar as a result of nationwide emergency measles vaccine campaigns. As of August 2019 outbreaks were occurring in Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, South Sudan and Sudan. Madagascar
An outbreak of measles in 2018 has resulted in 118,000 cases and 1,688 deaths. This followed outbreaks of bubonic and pneumonic plague in 2017 (2575 cases, 221 deaths) and 2014 (263 confirmed cases, 71 deaths). Democratic Republic of Congo
An outbreak of measles with nearly 5,000 deaths and 250,000 infections occurred in 2019, after the disease spread to all the provinces in the country. Most deaths were among children under five years of age. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported this as the worlds largest and fastest-moving epidemic. History
Measles is of zoonotic origin, having evolved from rinderpest, which infects cattle.
A precursor of the measles began causing infections in humans as early as the 4th century BC or as late as after AD 500. The Antonine Plague of AD 165–180 has been speculated to have been measles, but the actual cause of this plague is unknown and smallpox is a more likely cause. The first systematic description of measles, and its distinction from smallpox and chickenpox, is credited to the Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (860–932), who published The Book of Smallpox and Measles. At the time of Razis book, it is believed that outbreaks were still limited and that the virus was not fully adapted to humans. Sometime between AD 1100 and 1200, the measles virus fully diverged from rinderpest, becoming a distinct virus that infects humans. This agrees with the observation that measles requires a susceptible population of >500,000 to sustain an epidemic, a situation that occurred in historic times following the growth of medieval European cities. Measles is an endemic disease, meaning it has been continually present in a community and many people develop resistance. In populations not exposed to measles, exposure to the new disease can be devastating. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of those indigenous people who had previously survived smallpox.