The Victorian government has issued a health alert after a new case of measles was detected in the state. The new case brings the total number of cases detected since January 2024 to 11.
The infectious traveller arrived at Tullamarine Airport from Singapore’s Changi Airport on Tuesday 25 June, before visiting a McDonald’s restaurant near the airport, locations along the Great Ocean Road and also grocery stores in the southwest Victorian towns of Warrnambool and Port Campbell.
Measles is a highly infectious viral illness which spreads person-to-person, and can lead to uncommon but serious complications, such as pneumonia, brain inflammation and even death.
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, conjunctivitis, runny nose, and flu-like symptoms, followed by a red bumpy rash. The rash usually starts on the face before spreading down the body. Symptoms can develop between 7 to 18 days after exposure.
If you believe you may have been at the same stores as the infected traveller, health authorities urge you to monitor your symptoms closely for the next two weeks.
Anyone who has not had at least two shots of a measles vaccine (first introduced in 1966) is at a much higher risk of contracting the virus and should consider getting inoculated immediately.
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