Infectious Traveller Prompts Measles Alert For Sydney Airport

(MENAFN- IANS) Sydney, Sep 18 (IANS) Australian health authorities have issued a measles alert for Sydney Airport after being notified of a confirmed case who was infectious while travelling.

The Department of Health in the east coast state of New South Wales (NSW) said in an alert issued on Wednesday night (local time) that the confirmed case recently returned from Western Australia (WA), where there is an active outbreak of measles, and visited several locations in the state's north while infectious.

Passengers and crew who were on board Virgin Australia flight VA572 from WA's capital of Perth to Sydney on September 12, as well as passengers and crew on flight VA505 from Sydney to Gold Coast Airport on the same day, have been advised to monitor for the development of symptoms, reports Xinhua news agency.

Additionally, anyone who was in T2 at Sydney Airport between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. on September 12 or the main baggage and arrival area at Gold Coast Airport, which straddles the border between NSW and the northeast state of Queensland, between 8:30 and 9:20 a.m., has been told to watch for symptoms.

The confirmed case visited the emergency department at the Tweed Valley Hospital, 660 km northeast of Sydney, near NSW's border with Queensland, on September 15.

NSW's North Coast Population and Public Health Director Valerie Delpech said anyone who might have come into contact with the case at those locations should watch out for symptoms, including fever, sore eyes, and a cough, followed days later by a rash that spreads from the face to the rest of the body.

She said it can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear and that it is important for anyone who develops symptoms to call ahead to their doctor or emergency department to ensure they do not spend time in a waiting room.

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