Measles

Abstract

Measles, also known as ‘English measles’ or morbilli, is a potentially serious, highly infectious disease caused by a virus. How do you catch measles? Measles is spread through contact with infectious droplets from the nose or throat of a person with measles, often during the first 2–4 days of symptoms before the rash appears. One person with measles can pass the disease on to 12–18 people who have not already had measles or been immunised against the disease. How common is measles? New Zealand had large measles epidemics in 1991 and 1997, and continues to have regular smaller outbreaks with the most recent being in 2016. The last measles related death in New Zealand was one of seven during the 1991 epidemic.