Liberia, June 25 -- The measles came to this town in January.

Nobody announced it. Nobody warned families here. It moved quietly from home to home, the way measles does - through the air, between children playing; spreading before anyone understood what was happening.

By the time people in Kiangia Town realized an outbreak was unfolding, several families were already fighting it. There were no medications at the nearest clinic. In some cases there was no clinic open at all. So parents and grandparents turned to what they could find - traditional remedies of leaves, beans, honey and alcohol that experts say would do nothing at all.

Some children survived. Samuel did not. He was four years old.

Health advocates say Samuel's death was a...