Brazil measles outbreak kills 7-month-old boy

RIO DE JANEIRO – A 7-month-old boy has become the first person to die in the measles outbreak that has hit Manaus, capital of Brazil’s northern jungle state of Amazonas.

Manaus’ city government said Thursday the baby died on June 28, three days after being hospitalized with symptoms of the disease. Lab tests confirmed the boy had measles.

The measles outbreak began in March after cases were imported from neighbouring Venezuela, where health services have largely collapsed. Since then, 271 cases of the disease have been confirmed in Manaus.

Hardships in Venezuela have sent more than 1 million people fleeing to neighbouring countries, sometimes bringing disease with them.

There are also concerns that the outbreak has reached an isolated tribe that lives in the Amazon that has little resistance to such diseases