NICD adds four diphtheria cases, taking respiratory tally to 43

South Africa has recorded four additional laboratory-confirmed cases of respiratory diphtheria, taking the total for the 2026 surveillance period to 43, according to a new National Institute for Communicable Diseases report.

The update released on Friday covers 29 December 2025 to 27 September 2026. Two of the additional cases were reported in the Western Cape and one in Gauteng during the latest reporting week. The fourth, from Limpopo, relates to the preceding week.

The Western Cape accounts for 35 of the 43 confirmed respiratory cases, or 81%. Limpopo has recorded five and Gauteng three.

The NICD’s full report also lists five probable cases, all in Limpopo. The report records eight deaths among probable and confirmed respiratory cases across that reporting period.

Contact tracing has identified 10 people carrying toxin-producing Corynebacterium diphtheriae without symptoms, eight in the Western Cape and two in Limpopo. No additional asymptomatic carriers were added in the latest update.

NICD said public-health responses had been initiated for all suspected and confirmed cases. Seven clusters identified during the reporting period account for 13 confirmed respiratory cases, while 30 cases have no known epidemiological links.

Respiratory diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable bacterial illness that can affect people of any age. The report separately records two confirmed cases of cutaneous, or skin, diphtheria in Gauteng; these are outside the respiratory total.

The figures are provisional. NICD extracted the data on 2 October and counts cases by the date of the first specimen or, where that is unavailable, the first clinical presentation. Ongoing checks may change the totals in later reports.

Image: CDC / Dr P.B. Smith, 1973. This archive laboratory photograph is available free from the CDC Public Health Image Library. It does not show a specimen from the current South African cases. Use of this public-domain image and links does not imply endorsement of EBNewsDaily by CDC, HHS or the US government.