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Measles cases on the increase

21 Apr 2026

 


New surveillance data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) between 29 December 2025 and 12 April 2026 revealed 1,076 laboratory-confirmed measles cases nationally. – TimesLive (21 April 2026).
731 of the 1,076 cases are children aged one to 14 years; while 213 of the cases are 15 and older.
According to the NICD this suggests ongoing transmission in communities and may indicate an immunity gap among older groups.
The NICD reported measles-positive wastewater samples in Gauteng, specifically in Ekurhuleni, the City of Tshwane and the City of Johannesburg districts. Positive samples were also detected in KwaZulu-Natal, North West and the Western Cape.

Meanwhile rubella infections have decreased to 217 laboratory-confirmed cases during the same period, lower than the same period in 2025.

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