Sydney, April 29 || Authorities in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria have issued a health alert for measles amid a spike in cases.
The Victorian Department of Health said that a new measles case has been reported in a returned traveller who visited Pakistan and was infectious, on a flight from Dubai to Melbourne on April 24.
The department said on Friday that there had been 22 confirmed cases of measles in Victoria in 2025 - more than in 2023 and 2024 combined. It said the majority of cases have been acquired locally in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
Victoria is Australia's second-most populous state with a population of over seven million.
Tarun Weeramanthri, Victoria's Chief Health Officer, said on Monday that there is an "increased risk" of measles in greater Melbourne and the neighboring Mitchell Shire.
"A growing number of measles cases have acquired their infection locally in Victoria," he said in a statement.
"The majority of recent cases have arisen in people who have not had two documented doses of the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine."
He said that there is also an "ongoing risk" of measles being imported into Victoria by overseas travellers due to rising cases globally.