Bangladesh is facing a severe measles epidemic, with government figures recording more than 120,000 suspected and confirmed cases and nearly 750 deaths — mostly children — since a sharp spike in infections began in mid-March. Public health experts blame a "perfect storm" including alleged delays in vaccine procurement under the previous interim government, which left clinics without supplies just as coverage faltered. An emergency vaccination drive launched in April has reached over 18 million children, but the country is still registering roughly 1,000 new suspected cases daily, prompting experts to warn the official toll is likely a significant undercount of what one specialist describes not as an outbreak, but an epidemic.