More than 1,200 infected with measles in Brazil; 6 dead

Lara Melo, 3-year-old, receives a vaccine against measles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

SAO PAULO - Brazil's Health Ministry says more than 1,200 people have been infected in a growing measles outbreak linked to cases imported from neighbouring Venezuela.

The ministry said Tuesday that six people have died.

The cases are concentrated in two states on Brazil's border with Venezuela. Health services have collapsed in the neighbouring country amid economic and political turmoil, and Venezuelan officials have been dealing with a measles outbreak since last year.

More than 1 million people have fled Venezuela's chaos, often carrying disease with them.

To combat the measles outbreak, Brazil launched a campaign this month to vaccinate all children between ages 1 and 5 -- regardless of whether they have previously been vaccinated. So far, the campaign has reached only around 16 per cent of the target population.