Bangladesh has reached a grim milestone in its ongoing measles outbreak as seven more patients died from measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday morning (September 10), pushing the total death toll from confirmed and suspected cases past the 1,000 mark.

According to the regular health bulletin released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the overall mortality figure now stands at 1,009. This includes 100 confirmed measles fatalities and 909 deaths attributed to measles-like symptoms.

During the 24-hour reporting period ending at 8:00 AM Thursday, three of the seven casualties were recorded in Dhaka alone. A total of 1,165 new patients presenting with measles symptoms were admitted to hospitals across the country during the same period.

A divisional breakdown of the latest hospital admissions reveals that Dhaka division recorded the highest influx with 450 new patients, followed by Chittagong with 262, Sylhet with 153, Barisal with 116, Khulna with 89, Mymensingh with 82, Rajshahi with 28, and Rangpur with 14.

Since surveillance tracking began on March 15, a cumulative total of 148,505 patients with measles-like symptoms have been admitted to various healthcare facilities across the nation. Of them, 142,888 patients have recovered and been discharged following treatment.

DGHS data further indicates that total suspected measles cases have reached 168,765 since mid-March, with 19,933 confirmed through laboratory testing.