Fiji has issued a public health warning and travel advisory in response to the escalating measles outbreak in New Zealand.
Parents should check their Plunket or 'Well Child' book to see if their tamariki have received two doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Photo: AFP
The Health Ministry is offering free Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccinations and asking people to get immunised two weeks before visiting New Zealand if they are not already protected.
The last outbreak in Fiji was in 2006, and there have been no cases reported in 13 years since.
The ministry said the country was at risk of having travel related cases and warned people to be alert for fever, coughing, sore eyes and rashes.
The highly infectious, airborne, viral illness is a particular threat to young children, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, it said.
From 1 January 2019 to 5 September 2019 there have been 1051 confirmed cases of measles notified across New Zealand, 877 of which are in the Auckland region.