Issued by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases based on laboratory testing data
Highlights
- The NICD has tested 6460 serum samples for measles since epidemiological week 40, 2022, of which 1100 (17%) were confirmed positive. In the past week (week 25 up until week 26, 01/07/2023) there have been 10 laboratory-confirmed measles cases detected across the country, most of which were from Limpopo (6).
- The percentage of samples testing positive (PTP) increased from 17% (7/41) of samples tested in week 25 to 43% (3/7) of samples tested in week 26.
- In week 25 (week ending 25/06/2023), Limpopo province reported a total of five (5) new measles cases, while sporadic cases were reported in Gauteng (1) and Western Cape (1).
- To declare the measles outbreak over, the following criteria should be achieved: Absence of newly detected Measles cases for more than two incubation periods (42 days). The outbreak was declared over for the Northern Cape in week 15, North West in week 24 and Free State in week 25. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing sporadic cases, the outbreak cannot be declared over in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
- In week 25 Limpopo province reported a total of 5 cases, Waterberg (2) Greater Sekhukhune (2) and one (1) case from Capricorn district. Only one case from the Capricorn district has been reported for week 26
- The vaccination campaign in Limpopo province targeting the 5-15 years age group has come to an end with overall vaccination coverage of 56%. To achieve a higher coverage rate, the NICD is informed that a mop-up campaign will be conducted from 24 July 2023 to 31 August 2023.
Outbreak overview
From epidemiological week 40 2022 to week 26 2022, the NICD has tested 6460 serum samples for measles of which 1100 (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 26 of 2023, 1092 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported from eight provinces with declared measles outbreaks; Limpopo (506 cases), Mpumalanga (111 cases), North West (217 cases), Gauteng (182 cases), Free State (32 cases), Western Cape (16), 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 41 in week 25 to 7 tests in week 26.
