A total of 169 cases of measles have been confirmed in four provinces of South Africa from October 11 to December 7, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has said. Laboratory tests have confirmed measles in North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and Gauteng provinces, the NICD was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
"The number of measles cases in the country is rising. Four of our nine provinces have outbreaks," the NICD said in a statement. Measles vaccination coverage in the country is below the required coverage of 95 percent to stop transmission, according to the institute.