LAGOS, March 27 (Reuters) - A measles outbreak has killed at least 165 children in the remote northwestern Nigerian state of Katsina, health officials said on Thursday.

About 3,064 other children have been infected with the highly contagious air-borne virus since January when the outbreak was first reported, the state director of disease control Halliru Idris told reporters.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted the health official as saying the death toll could be much higher because many cases had not been reported.

Apart from causing death, measles is a major cause of blindness among children in Africa and has the potential to damage the brain, leading to deafness and paralysis.

Idris, who blamed the outbreak on the refusal of parents to vaccinate their children during routine immunisation days, said the districts of Funtua, Katsina, Zango and Malumfashi were the worst hit with a combined total of 1,267 reported cases.

Idris said the state government had distributed 66,000 vaccines to the affected districts to curb the spread of the virus.

Measles is a virus which has been largely wiped out in many rich nations because of vaccinations, but remains a big killer of children in the developing world, particularly when combined with malnutrition.

Symptoms include coughing, a runny nose and slight fever in the first stage, then a red rash that spreads over the body and lasts for about five days.

Complications can include pneumonia, middle ear infections, swelling of the brain and seizures. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Tume Ahemba)

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