Issued by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases based on laboratory testing data
Highlights
- The NICD has tested 6360 serum samples for measles since epidemiological week 40, 2022, of which 1081 (17%) were confirmed positive. In the past week (week 23 up until week 24, 12/06/2023) there have been 20 laboratory-confirmed measles cases detected across the country, of which the majority were from Limpopo (15).
- The percentage of samples testing positive (PTP) increased from 26 % (18/67) of samples tested in week 23 to 33% (2/6) of samples tested in week 24.
- In week 23 (week ending 17/06/2023), Limpopo province reported a total of 13 new measles cases, while sporadic cases were reported in Mpumalanga (1) Gauteng (2) and Eastern Cape (2). No new cases were reported in KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. North West and Free State reported cases in week 19.
- Owing to the absence of continuous measles transmission greater than 42 days (x2 the incubation period), The measles outbreak in the Northern Cape province is considered over.
- Measles virus transmission in the Waterberg district, Limpopo province continues in the 5-14-year group.
Outbreak overview
From epidemiological week 40 2022 to week 24 2022, the NICD has tested 6360 serum samples for measles of which 1081 (17%) were confirmed measles cases. The number of samples submitted and the percentage of laboratory-confirmed measles-positive cases are shown in Figure 1. From epidemiological week 40 of 2022 to week 24 of 2023, 1073 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported from eight provinces with declared measles outbreaks; Limpopo (495 cases), Mpumalanga (110 cases), North West (217 cases), Gauteng (176 cases), Free State (32 cases), Western Cape (15), KwaZulu-Natal (21) and Northern Cape (7) .The number of blood samples and throat swabs submitted to the NICD for measles serology and PCR testing decreased from 61 in week 23 to six tests in 24 .
