An active alert for health professionals and the WA community was issued on 14 August 2024 by Dr Paul Armstrong, the Director of the WA Communicable Disease Control Directorate, after a case of measles was identified in a returned overseas traveller.
While an effective immunisation program has rendered measles a rarity in Australia, it remains a common disease internationally and several countries around the world are currently experiencing outbreaks.
“Just being in the same room as someone with measles can result in transmission,” Dr Armstrong said. “It can also be spread through direct contact with the mucous membranes of an infected person, and by touching articles freshly soiled with the mucous and saliva of an infected person.”
WA Health has advised the public that they may have been exposed to measles if they attended the following exposure sites during the listed dates and times and should monitor for symptoms:
| Date | Time | Location |
Address |
| 6/8 | 7:45am to 8:30am | City of Perth Parking: Roe St Carpark | 68 Roe Street, Northbridge |
| 6/8 | 8:00am to 4:45pm | KS1 Building – Kings Square | 556 Wellington St, Perth |
| 6/8 | 1:25pm to 2:00pm | Guzman Y Gomez Restaurant | 87 James St, Northbridge |
| 6/8 | 4:00pm to 4:45pm | City of Perth Parking: Roe St Carpark | 68 Roe Street, Northbridge |
| 7/8 | 7:45am to 8:30am | City of Perth Parking: Roe St Carpark | 68 Roe Street, Northbridge |
| 7/8 | 8:00am to 4:45pm | KS1 Building – Kings Square | 556 Wellington St, Perth |
| 7/8 | 8:45am to 9:20am | La Veen Coffee | 79B King St, Perth |
| 7/8 | 11:45am to 12:30pm | The Re Store Northbridge | 72 Lake Street, Northbridge |
| 7 /8 | 4:00pm to 4:45pm | City of Perth Parking: Roe St Carpark | 68 Roe Street, Northbridge |
| 11/8 | 4:00pm to 5:30pm | Public café, St John of God Hospital Midland | 1 Clayton Street, Midland |
Anyone born in or since 1966 and who does not have documented evidence of receiving two doses of a measles-containing vaccine or documented evidence of immunity, is at risk of contracting measles.
“People with measles typically develop symptoms around 10 days after being exposed to the virus, but this can vary from seven to 18 days. The rash usually appears four to five days after symptoms start to show,” WA Health said in a statement.
Up to one-third of people infected with measles will experience a complication, including ear infections, diarrhoea and pneumonia, and may require hospitalisation, with roughly 1 in every 1000 people going on to develop encephalitis.
Those most at risk of severe illness from measles include the immunocompromised, young children and pregnant women, and anyone who presents with signs and symptoms of measles should be tested with the Department of Health notified.
General practices and emergency departments should:
- Ask about recent travel when assessing acute illness.
- Identify people with measles-compatible illness at reception or triage, provide a mask and isolate immediately – consultation rooms used in the assessment of patients with suspected measles should be left vacant for at least 30 minutes after the consultation.
- Consider testing patients presenting with fever and rash for measles – the recommended laboratory tests for diagnosis of acute measles include: a throat swab (or nasopharyngeal aspirate); first catch urine; serum samples for serology +/- PCR (SST and EDTA tubes, respectively)
- Notify suspected cases immediately to your local Public Health Unit by telephone (8am to 5pm Mon-Fri excluding public holidays) or to the Department of Health on call duty officer (after hours).
- Free MMR vaccines are available to people susceptible to measles, even if they are not eligible for Medicare. Serology is not required before vaccinating.