Samoa
Polynesian island nation in the South Pacific; capital Apia.
Samoa's 2019 measles epidemic caused 5,707 cases and 83 deaths in a population of about 200,000; by 14 September 2026 Bangladesh had counted 1,030 measles-related deaths, many of them infants.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for Samoa
Mentioned in: Bangladesh: 1,030 die of measles in 2026
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
Samoa is a Polynesian island nation in the South Pacific, with its capital at Apia and a population of about 200,000.
Its 2019 measles epidemic followed a collapse in routine vaccination. WHO and UNICEF estimated first-dose measles coverage at 31% in 2018. The epidemic that followed caused 5,707 cases and 83 deaths, WHO reported, and the deaths fell overwhelmingly on infants and young children.
The government declared a state of emergency on 15 November 2019. A mass vaccination drive then lifted coverage to about 90%, UN News reported.
In 2026 Bangladesh, by 14 September, had recorded 1,030 measles-related deaths, with babies too young for the first dose at nine months among the dead, after its last catch-up campaign in the winter of 2020-21.
Samoa's epidemic killed mostly infants
Bangladesh had recorded 1,030 measles-related deaths among 172,720 suspected cases by 14 September 2026. In Samoa, first-dose coverage near 31% in 2018 preceded 5,707 cases and 83 deaths, most of them infants and young children.
Samoa ended its epidemic after a state of emergency on 15 November 2019 and a door-to-door mass campaign. Bangladesh's April 2026 campaign reached 19.75 million children, yet babies too young for the first dose at nine months kept dying; at one hospital 86% of 57 child deaths were under 15 months old. Bangladesh's second-dose coverage stood at 80.7% in 2023, against 89% four years before.