A one-year-old boy has died of measles in Mumbai amid an outbreak of the viral infection in the city, where 142 cases of the disease have been recorded so far this year as against just 25 and 9 in 2021 and 2020, respectively, civic officials said on Tuesday.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a late night release, said the city has so far recorded seven suspected deaths due to measles.

Once the civic body receives the report of the death review committee, the exact cause of these deaths will be known, said the release.

Mumbai has recorded 142 diagnosed cases of measles so far this year as compared to 25 and 9 in 2021 and 2020, respectively, it said.

Eight civic wards have reported the outbreak of the highly contagious illness and the highest number of cases have been registered in M-east ward that includes Govandi and its surrounding areas, said the release.

As per the release, the civic body has set up three isolation wards — one at Shivaji Nagar health centre for patients with mild symptoms and one each at Rajawadi Hospital (Ghatkopar) and Shatabdi Hospital (Govandi) for those with severe symptoms.

Mumbai has reported 1,079 suspected cases of measles and of these, the highest 560 are in 1 to 4 years age group, it said.

At present, 66 patients of the disease, whose symptoms include fever, dry cough, runny nose and sore throat, are undergoing treatment at hospitals and six of them were admitted on Tuesday, said the BMC.

The boy who died on Monday was a resident of the Null Bazar area and undergoing treatment at the BMC-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli since last week, a civic official said.

According to doctors, “septicemia with acute renal failure with measles bronchopneumonia” was the cause of the child’s death, the official said.

As per a civic body bulletin, 61 children were admitted to Kasturba Hospital with measles-like symptoms between November 4 and 14. Twelve of them were hospitalised on Monday.

“In measles, a child gets fever, cold, cough and red rashes on the body. Complications from this disease can be serious in children who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated,” a BMC release earlier said.

The Union Health Ministry last week said it has deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge of measles cases in the city.