Australia was declared measles-free just five years ago, with due diligence and high vaccination rates holding the virus at bay. There have been 92 confirmed cases of measles nationally this year in early April, compared to an annual total of 103 for 2018, and 81 for 2017.
Because measles is so highly infectious, outbreaks occasionally happen when people travelling overseas catch the virus and bring it back into Australia. Globally there are hundreds of thousand of cases of measles and tens of thousand of deaths.
The measles virus is so contagious that in areas where vaccination rates are not very high - over 90%, there is a high risk of measles once more becoming a threat to the Australian community. Currently that is what is now happening around the world.
A sharp increase in measles cases has prompted Government immunisation warnings. On Monday, Health Minister Greg Hunt urged all Australians to check their measles immunisation history and book in for a catch-up vaccination if necessary. "In particular, any individual planning to go overseas and those born between 1966 and 1994 are at higher risk and should be take action to protect themselves and their community," Mr Hunt said.
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