Samoa's government has declared a measles epidemic.
It says seven cases have been confirmed, and the death of a one-year-old last week is also likely to be because of measles.
The Health Ministry says it anticipates more cases, and is urging people to get vaccinated in clinics across the country.
A vaccinologist at Auckland University, Helen Petousis-Harris, says a measles outbreak in Samoa was basically inevitable.
She says Samoa has an immunisation rate as low as 31 percent, which may have dropped further because of a lengthy pause in the vaccination programme last year.
Dr Petousis-Harris told Jamie Tahana about her initial reaction to the outbreak.
A Samoan measles poster. Photo: Samoa Ministry of Health
