Healing of the sick and protection from death during a measles epidemic in Kaiapoi Island

During a measles outbreak in Kaiapoi Island that caused many individuals to lose their senses temporarily, almost every house in town was visited by the illness, with some households having as many as six or seven individuals sick at once. Despite the severity, only a very few cases proved fatal, an outcome which the reporter attributes to the power of God.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

Since writing my last letter, we have been visited in this town with a severe disease, something like the measles; it took away the senses entirely for a time. Almost every house has been visited by it, and in some cases as many as six and seven have been down with it at a time, but in very few cases has it proved fatal. We feel to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in this, and to thank Him for His protecting care over us.