Diphtheria cases have been reported in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia's worst outbreak of diphtheria is spreading. The federal government is providing an emergency support package for the Northern Territory. The highly contagious infection had been considered largely eliminated in Australia but cases are now confirmed in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. The vast majority of cases are in central Australia where there has been one suspected death with indigenous communities most at risk.

Transcript

00:01A rare and potentially deadly disease spreading as authorities race to contain it.

00:08It's a very, very concerning outbreak.

00:11An outbreak of diphtheria worse than any since records began in 1991.

00:17We are taking the outbreak in the Kimberley very seriously.

00:19We're seeing in some cases a return of communicable diseases

00:23that we thought we had eradicated that are coming back.

00:25Preventable by vaccine, the priority is to immunise those most vulnerable.

00:30As the outbreak that began in Queensland spreads to the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

00:36The vast majority of new cases we're seeing are respiratory diphtheria,

00:42which is far more serious in terms of its potential.

00:46About 25% of cases are being hospitalised.

00:49Extra vaccines and a surge workforce have been promised by the federal government.

00:53This is a serious outbreak. The government's taken it seriously and people do need to get vaccinated.

01:00Authorities are ruling out any COVID-style lockdowns to stop the spread.

01:05All those measures were appropriate with a virus disease that we did not know about.

01:10This is a disease we do know about, albeit one that was very common last century

01:14and this is very readily treated with antibiotics.

01:17The majority of cases in this outbreak have been among Aboriginal people living in regional and remote areas

01:22where there are gaps in vaccination and overcrowded housing plays a significant role.

01:27Congress where I work, which is a large Aboriginal health service,

01:30we're ten full-time equivalent GPs down on what we should have.

01:34There's got to be a better policy response to address male distribution of workforce across this country,

01:39but that's the situation we're in.

01:41The disease spreads through person-to-person contact.

01:44It affects the nose and throat but can also cause skin ulcers.

01:49Diphtheria can cause quite significant outcomes if it's not treated early,

01:54so if you're not feeling very well or you think you might have come in contact, please see your doctor.

01:58With more than 200 cases across the country, containing the outbreak is becoming more urgent each day.

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