SYDNEY, Oct. 2 (Xinhua/APP): Health authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Thursday issued a measles alert for northern Sydney after being notified of a case who was infectious while visiting several locations.
NSW Health said that the confirmed case visited five locations in Sydney’s northern beaches region, including a supermarket, restaurant, cafe and pharmacist, while infectious on Sept. 25 and 27.
The case was a close contact of a recently-reported measles case in northern Sydney, NSW Health said.
Anyone who attended the five locations at the same time as the new case has been advised to monitor for the development of symptoms until mid-October.
Michael Staff, director of public health for the Northern Sydney Local Health District, said that symptoms to monitor for include fever, sore eyes and a cough, followed days later by a rash that spreads from the head and neck to the rest of the body.
According to data from the federal government’s National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), there had been 130 confirmed cases of measles in Australia so far in 2025 as of Thursday morning – more than the previous five years combined.
Of the 130 cases, 64 were people aged 20-34, and another 17 were aged 0-4.
Staff said that the alert should be a reminder for everyone to check that they are vaccinated against measles.