Brazil confirms first measles death this year

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian health authorities say the country has had its first death from measles this year.

Brazil’s Health Ministry said Thursday that a 42-year-old man died from measles in Sao Paulo. He was not vaccinated against the disease.

Nearly all the measles cases recorded this year in Brazil are in the state of Sao Paulo, where health authorities have confirmed 2,457 cases.

Brazil received a measles eradication certificate from the Pan American Health Organization in 2016, but the disease returned in January 2018 from people immigrating from Venezuela.

Measles cases also have surged in Europe and parts of the United States. Health authorities blame that on people refusing vaccines.

The Pan American Health Organization says Brazil recorded more than 10,000 cases of measles with 12 deaths last year.