Wellington College.
Photo: Facebook – Wellington College
There are now 10 known cases of measles in the present outbreak, health officials said on Sunday, after confirming two more in Wellington.
“We expect there to be more cases as the response continues,” Health New Zealand (HNZ) said early on Monday afternoon.
One case was linked to overseas travel, and seven to the exposure event on a Bluebridge ferry on 3 October.
“HNZ has also identified a large number of new contacts and locations of interest linked to these cases. We are continuing to use a variety of tools to contact people, such as bulk text messages, emails and phone calls as we work to ‘stamp out’ this outbreak.”
Four staff and about 60 students at Wellington Girls’ College were earlier identified as possible contacts. All have been informed by the school, and told HNZ would contact them and decide if they need to isolate.
A letter to the school on Monday confirmed that a person with measles was at the college earlier this month.
The letter, sent on Sunday, said the person was at the school on Monday, 13 October, between 8.45am and midday. It said HNZ was directly contacting students and staff who were at highest risk of being infected with measles.
“These people are considered close contacts and may need to stay home to stop measles spreading to others,” it said.
“Hundreds” have also been told they were close contacts at Wellington College. With limited resources, not all had yet been contacted.
“Due to the volume of people involved, this process may not be completed today. Individuals are asked to follow the instructions provided and await direct contact.”
Wellington Girls’ College. File photo.
Photo:
Health officials have warned of the risk of a wider outbreak.
There are locations of interest across the country – in Auckland, Taranaki, Nelson-Marlborough and Tasman, and the Manawatū Whanganui region (full list here).
So far, there had been one case each in Northland, Taranaki and Nelson, two in each of Auckland and Manawatu, and three in Wellington.
HNZ had not yet directly commented on the case at the college.
“Measles is highly contagious and can cause serious and potentially long-term health problems,” HNZ said. “People with measles often feel very unwell, but you may be contagious even before you get any symptoms.”
Anyone who suspects they might be infected should not turn up at a doctor’s office or emergency room unannounced, HNZ said – call ahead so precautions can be taken.
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