Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfPro8): Abstract 02 | Published: 01 Oct 2026
Warren Mwanza1,2,3,&, Shadreck Manda1,2,3, Danny Kabwe1,2,4, Ante Mutati1,2,4, Hellen Kaoma1,2, Dabwiso Banda1,2
1Zambia Field Epidemiology Training Program, Lusaka, Zambia, 2Zambia National Public Health Institute, 3Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, Lusaka, Zambia, 4 Provincial Health Office, Luapula, Zambia
&Corresponding author: Warren Mwanza, Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, Lusaka, Zambia, Email: warrenmwanza@gmail.com
Received: 28 Mar 2026, Accepted: 29 Aug 2026, Published: 01 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Measles, Chienge, case-control, contact, tralvel
©Warren Mwanza et al Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Warren Mwanza et al., Measles outbreak driven by household contact and travel among children in Chienge District, Zambia, February – April 2026. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfPro8):02. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO8-0002
Measles remains a leading cause of vaccine-preventable childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. On 8th February 2026, a measles outbreak began in Chienge District, Zambia, reaching 157 cases across 42 villages by 4th April 2026. We investigated the outbreak to describe its epidemiology and identify factors associated with measles infection.
We conducted a matched case-control study in Puta catchment area in May 2026. We defined a case as a resident with fever, generalised maculopapular rash, and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis, systematically selected cases from line-listed cases, and matched each to three controls by village and age group. Caregivers reported on demographics, vaccination, travel, and healthcare-seeking. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate crude and adjusted matched odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), selecting the final model by likelihood ratio test.
Among 157 line-listed cases, 87 (55.4%) were male, 37 (23.6%) were aged <12 months, and no deaths occurred. The analysis included 60 cases and 180 controls. Household contact with a confirmed measles case (aOR 9.42, 95% CI 2.92-30.4), travel outside the village in the preceding 21 days (aOR 9.04, 95% CI 1.44-57.0) were independently associated with measles infection. Health facility visit in the 21 days before symptom onset was protective (aOR 0.04, 95% CI 0.01-0.16). Vaccination status, any dose versus zero-dose, showed a non-significant protective trend (aOR 0.50, 95% CI 0.16-1.58).
Household exposure and travel outside the village were the primary drivers of the measles transmission during this outbreak. The protective association with health facility visit may reflect healthcare-seeking and early case isolation rather than vaccination itself. Targeted supplementary immunisation in high-burden villages, cross-border surveillance, community-based surveillance and early case detection among exposed households and mobile populations could reduce the risk of future outbreaks.
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