Measles case on Auckland to Melbourne flight

The measles outbreak continues to spread, with another case of the disease reported on an international flight between Auckland and Melbourne on August 30.

The person departed Auckland on Friday, August 30, at around 8.45am on Air New Zealand Flight NZ123.

The person, a New Zealand citizen currently living in Australia, did not know they had measles at the time.

They were diagnosed in Australia and local public health authorities there were notified of the case.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) medical officer of health Dr William Rainger said people who may have been in contact with that person should be vigilant for symptoms of the highly infectious disease.

"It can take 7-14 days to start experiencing symptoms and you are most at risk if you're not immune to measles, either because you haven't been vaccinated or you haven't had the disease previously," Rainger said.

Anyone who was on the same flight, or in the airport departures area around the same time as the person, should watch out for measles symptoms from tomorrow.

If you were on the flight and are unsure whether you're immune to measles, talk to your doctor or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for advice.

The alert comes as ARPHS figures released at 2pm today show there have been 877 confirmed cases of measles in Auckland this year.

A total of 633 of those cases have been in the Counties Manukau District Health Board area, with 157 in the Waitematā DHB and 143 in Auckland DHB areas.

Nationally there have been 1051 confirmed cases of measles to date this year.