The Ministry of Health in Lakes State has declared measles outbreak in four counties after recording 42 cases with four deaths.
The counties affected are Cueibet, Rumbek East, Wulu and Yirol West, according to the acting minister.
Philiph Taban, the care taking minister for health in the state, says 27 samples were taken to Juba for a test and nine were confirmed positive.
He says medical teams have been dispatched to the four counties to provide treatment to affected children.
“Surveillance officers in all 8 Counties of Lakes are instructed to search and report any measles cases to the state Ministry of Health,” Taban told Mingkaman FM on Monday.
Minister added that his boss met with World Health Organization representatives on ways to respond to the outbreak in the state.
Lakes is the fifth state in 2022 to declare the outbreak of the contagious disease after Unity confirmed 51 cases of measles following an outbreak in the Rubkona County in mid-November.
In February, the three counties of Torit, Maban and Tambura in Eastern Equatoria, Upper Nile, and Western Equatoria, respectively, confirmed cases of the disease.
Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus, according to WHO. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every 2–3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.