Measles alert for Sydney and Adelaide airports, Qantas and Emirates flights

A health alert has been issued for travellers who passed through Sydney Airport and Adelaide Airport last week.

A person infected with measles flew from Dubai to Sydney with Emirates on Tuesday and then on to Adelaide with Qantas.

Measles is a highly contagious disease, which can spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.

It causes rash and fever, and can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis, and even death.

NSW Health has said people on the same flights or who were transiting through the airport at the following times should look out for symptoms.

• Emirates flight EK416. Departed Dubai on Monday, June 10 at 9.37pm and arrived at Sydney International Terminal on Tuesday, June 11 at 4.57pm,

• Qantas flight QF749. Departed Sydney Domestic T3 at 8.51pm on Tuesday, June 11 and arrived in Adelaide at 10.45pm,

• Sydney International Terminal arrivals (including baggage collection and transfer bus) from approximately 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday, June 11,

• Sydney Domestic Terminal 3 departures from approximately 6pm to 8.51pm on Tuesday, June 11,

• Adelaide Airport. SA Health has put out an alert for its major airport from 11.30pm on Tuesday, June 11 to 12.30am on Wednesday, June 12.

The infected person was an infant boy who was hospitalised in Adelaide but is in a stable condition, according to The Advertiser.

South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) public health unit acting director Dr Anthea Katelaris said symptoms can include fever, runny nose, sore eyes and a cough, “usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head and face to the rest of the body”.

She said it can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear, so it is important for people to stay alert until Saturday, June 19.

“While these locations pose no ongoing risk, if you, or someone you know, visited the above locations at those times it is important to be on the lookout for symptoms,” Dr Katelaris said.

“Anyone who develops symptoms should call ahead to their GP or emergency department and say that they may have measles to ensure they do not spend time in the waiting room with other patients.”

There have been at least 40 cases of measles reported in Australia so far this year, with 16 in NSW, 10 in Victoria, six in South Australia, five in Queensland, two in Western Australia and one in ACT.

There were 26 cases of measles in Australia last year.

Just last month, the Victorian Health Department issued a warning about the risk of contracting travel-related diseases – like measles – overseas and then bringing it home.

It said of the ten measles cases that had been reported in the state this year, five were from returned overseas travellers and five linked to them.

Following the warning for Sydney Airport, Dr Katelaris urged NSW residents to ensure they are vaccinated, and said it was free in the state for anyone born after 1965 who has not already had two doses.

“Anyone born after 1965 needs to ensure they have had two doses of measles vaccine,” she said.

“This is especially important to check before overseas travel, as measles outbreaks are occurring in several regions of the world at the moment.”

Most people born before 1966 will have been infected with measles as a child and are likely to be immune because an infection used to be very common in childhood in Australia, according to NSW Health.

Measles is now rare in Australia but remains a common cause of death in children under five in some parts of the world.

In addition to Adelaide Airport, SA Health listed the following exposure sites connected to the infected traveller.

• Women’s and Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, from 1.45am on Saturday, June 15 to 3:20am on Sunday, June 16,

• Premium Care Medical Practice, Shop 105B Hollywood Plaza, Salisbury Downs, on Wednesday, June 12 from 5pm to 6pm and Friday, June 14 from 2pm to 3pm,

• Benson Radiology, located in Modbury Hospital, on Thursday, June 13 from 2pm to 3.15pm,

• SA Pathology, located in Modbury Hospital, on Thursday, June 13 from 3pm to 4pm.