South Africa's Measles Outbreak Reignites in Gauteng Province

The Republic of South Africa's year-long battle against measles outbreaks continues in September 2023.

In the past weeks (week 34 up until week 35), 17 laboratory-confirmed measles cases were detected across the country from four of the eight provinces.

As of September 2, 2023, Gauteng province reported most of the cases (11), Limpopo reported three, Kwa-Zulu Natal reported two, and North West reported one case.

Measles is highly contagious. Around 90% of people who are not protected will become infected following exposure to the virus.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) criteria for declaring the measles outbreak was met in the Northern Cape province in week 15, the North West province in week 24, and the Free State province in week 25. 

Since late 2022, the NICD has tested 6,816 serum samples for measles, of which 1160 (17%) were confirmed positive.

The NICD has implemented numerous vaccination programs throughout the measles outbreaks and continue in September 2023.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), India leads all other countries over the past year with about 57,000 cases.

In addition, the CDC published a global Travel Health Notice on June 29, 2023, highlighting various measles outbreaks.