evidence: A measles epidemic in Samoa has killed 39 people, with the World Health Organization (WHO) blaming an anti-vaccine messaging campaign for leaving the Pacific island nation vulnerable to the spread of the virus. The UN health agency warned that a steep decline in vaccination rates in Samoa had paved the way for a "huge outbreak", with almost 3,000 in a country of just 200,000 people. The death toll has been rising steadily since the country declared a national measles epidemic in mid-October. The Samoan government released an update on Wednesday that confirmed the death toll had risen to 39, with 35 of those deaths children under the age of four.