Cape Town — South Africa’s measles outbreak was officially declared over as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed zero total cases for July 2023.
In a statement, the NICD said they tested 6 523 serums and 1 114 returned positive, starting from week 40 of 2022 until Week 28 of 2023, resulting in 17% of positive cases.
However, in the past week, there have been 5 laboratory-confirmed measles cases detected across the country, of which 3 cases are from Gauteng and 1 from Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal respectively.
“The outbreak is effectively over. However ongoing cases are reported from Gauteng and Limpopo province. Limpopo province is currently completing a mop-up vaccination campaign. Sporadic cases are being reported from other provinces.”
#MeaslesOutbreakUpdate The outbreak is effectively over. However, ongoing cases are reported from Gauteng and Limpopo province. Limpopo province is currently completing a mop-up vaccination campaign. Read more here https://t.co/FiNzs7BxGK pic.twitter.com/kRy456igCz
— NICD (@nicd_sa) July 21, 2023
“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 criteria for declaring the measles outbreak over 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. Sporadic cases are still seen in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape.”
The NICD continues to stress the importance of vaccination as a critical measure to prevent and control measles outbreaks. The national measles vaccination coverage remains low in the at-risk population, The Citizen said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
