South Africa is battling an increase in the number of measle cases, with more than half of the country’s provinces declaring outbreaks over the past three months.According to figures published by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Friday, some 357 laboratory-confirmed measles cases have been reported as of January 7 in Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West provinces since October 2022. 

Limpopo had the highest number of cases at 140, followed by North West (114), Mpumalanga (75), Gauteng (16) and Free State (12).

All five provinces have declared outbreaks and have stepped up vaccination campaigns, the NICD said.

No cases have been reported in the other four provinces of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape.

“Important to note, the planned vaccination campaigns should continue with the same urgency, despite the decrease in cases in recent weeks,” the institute said.

The cases have been detected in patients with ages ranging from two months to 42 years, according to NICD.