Child receiving vaccination. (Photo: WHO)

Warrap State has declared an outbreak of measles in Tonj East County where it is planning vaccination campaign after 88 samples collected by health authorities tested positive for the viral disease.

The state Information Minister William Wol Mayuom said the results were confirmed on Friday at the Public Health Laboratory in Juba.

Mayom said, in an interview with Eye Radio on Monday, that most of the patients are nursing the disease at home due to a sharp increase in suspected cases and shortage of admission beds at the county health facilities.

The minister said the infection data could be far higher as many people suspected with the illness are refusing to report to health facilities.

“We identified 88 cases of measles and the samples was collected by the state minister of health, and the samples were taken to Juba,” he said.

“Of course, it has been confirmed that the samples taken to Juba is positive, and therefore Warrap state has declared a measles outbreak in Tonj East County and this was declared by the state minister of health at the state ministry of health headquarter.”

Mayom added that the state health minister is engaging with the national health ministry and partners to intervene with drugs and measles vaccine.

He said the state government will launch a vaccination campaign in the measles epicenter and other parts of the state next week.

Measles is a highly contagious viral infection, spread through contact with mucus that has been coughed or sneezed, or through breathing the same air as an infected person hours after they have left a room.

Also called rubeola, measles spreads easily and can be serious and even fatal for small children.

While death rates have been falling worldwide as more children receive the measles vaccine, the disease still kills more than 200,000 people a year, mostly children.

The Ministry of Health first declared the measles outbreak in South Sudan in February 2022, after reporting cases in Torit of Eastern Equatoria State and Maban in Upper Nile State.

The second outbreak was then declared in December 2022, following a steady increase in the number of cases across the country.