AKIPRESS.COM - Authorities said Monday that a measles epidemic sweeping through Samoa continues to worsen with the death toll rising to 25, all but one of them young children, AP reports.

“We still have a big problem at hand,” Samoa’s Director General of Health Leausa Take Naseri said in a video statement.

He said more than 140 new cases of people contracting the virus had been recorded within the past day, bringing the total to about 2,200 cases since the outbreak began last month. He said there are about 20 critically ill children who remain in hospital intensive care units.