The City of Tshwane is closely monitoring measles cases

The City of Tshwane Health Department has noted with concern the recent declaration of a measles outbreak in South Africa by the National Institute for Communicable
Diseases (NICD). So far, five provinces, namely Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga,Free State and the North West, have recorded cases.

In Tshwane, a total of 14 laboratory-confirmed cases have been recorded since May 2022 to date. The latest confirmed case in Tshwane was reported on 30 December 2022. It affected a four-year-old boy from Hammanskraal.

During late December 2022, the City implemented a measles vaccination campaign as a preventative measure, targeting children from the ages of 6 months to 15 years. In addition to this, the City launched an awareness campaign to mobilise and keep communities informed through local radio stations and social media.

The City’s Health Department would like to advise parents and caregivers to bring their children to any of our clinics for vaccination. The NICD has indicated that the current
measles outbreak in South Africa is due to low vaccine coverage.

Measles is a highly contagious but preventable disease, and symptoms include fever and a rash, cough, conjunctivitis (red eyes) and coryza (running nose). Complications
can include diarrhoea, dehydration, brain infection (encephalitis), blindness and death.

Measles complications are more severe in young infants who are under two years of age and in children who are malnourished. At this stage of reporting, there is no indication of a cluster outbreak of measles in Tshwane. However, this situation could change as cross-provincial travel is expected to increase prior to the reopening of schools.

As the MMC responsible for Health, I would like to assure our residents that the situation is being closely monitored and our outbreak response teams stand ready to manage the situation and mitigate the spread as far as possible.

Media enquiries: Sipho Stuurman (siphost@tshwane.gov.za)

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