The measles virus, the US CDC says measles is very contagious and can be serious, and anyone who is not protected against the virus is at risk. Photo: Supplied/ US CDC
Health New Zealand has confirmed another measles case, increasing the number to 11 nationally.
The new case in Northland over the weekend brings the total in the region to 10, with an unrelated case in Queenstown.
Health NZ said the latest Northland case was in quarantine during their infectious period so there are no new locations of interest.
Many of the locations of interest already reported were connected to Kerikeri High School.
Dr Sharon Sime from the National Public Health Service said there was no risk to the community from this new case.
"Public health is still managing more than a hundred contacts across Northland and Queenstown, and we're confident that we're managing the risk in those known close contacts.
"But it's always possible that somebody in the community was exposed to measles and public health isn't aware of them and so they haven't been in touch," she said.
People who have been in Northland, Queenstown and Cromwell recently are asked to stay up to date with the current Locations of Interest and monitor for measles symptoms.
Health NZ is asking parents of Northland students to ensure their children have had their MMR vaccines.
Officials are also urging parents to keep children from returning from school holidays if they're unwell.
Plea to keep sick children at home
Sime said the current cases were in people who hadn't been immunised.
"Measles is a disease that only affects people who are not immune. So if you are immune because you're fully vaccinated, you're very unlikely to get measles," said Dr Sime.
"We're worried about vaccination rates because this virus spreads so quickly and causes such severe illness. So we know the local community and Ngāti Hine Trust has been doing amazing work to take vaccines to where people are in Northland so that they can access vaccination."
"We would strongly encourage people to check their immunity to measles and if they're not immune or they're not sure to get a vaccine," she said.
Health NZ said immunisations are free for most people in New Zealand, including anyone aged under 18 years old.
Getting immunised with two doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine (after the age of 12 months) is the best form of protection, it said.
All the cases have links to countries with outbreaks.
"None of our cases have travelled outside of Northland. However, we are seeing children returning from school holidays at the moment."
"Many people will have travelled overseas when measles is circulating. So there's always a risk that another measles case can enter New Zealand and spread across the country. So we want everyone who's going back to school to be vigilant for measles."
"We want people, if your children are sick, please keep them at home because schools are the best place for measles to spread," said Dr Sharon Sime.
She said further resources are being deployed to combat the outbreaks in Northland and Queenstown.
A pop-up clinic for measles vaccines will be running in Queenstown from Monday - the second region on alert for the disease.
It has no known links to the cases in Northland.
The clinic is at Rees House at the Remarkables Park Town Centre in Frankton, from 11am to 4pm.
Latest Health NZ statistics showed just 61 percent of all children in Northland who are under five years old are fully immunised, and that number drops to 50 percent for Māori children in Northland.
Sixty three percent of people aged under 25 in Northland had received the MMR vaccine, HNZ said.
Measles is highly contagious and up to 90 percent of non-immune people (those who have not been vaccinated or have not already had it) will be infected if they are exposed to the virus.
About 80 percent of New Zealanders are immune - well below the 95 percent coverage needed to prevent an outbreak.
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