Bay measles case confirmed

The Bay of Plenty has had its first confirmed case of measles in more than six months.

The confimed case was the first in the Bay of Plenty since December 23 last year.

It joined a raft of confirmed measles cases sweeping the North Island with Waikato District Health Board confirming the most with 96 cases.

Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew said a spate of new measles cases dotted around the North Island highlighted the need for people to check if they had been immunised.

Over the last week new measles cases have been confirmed in Hawkes Bay, Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty.

"Measles is a serious and highly-infectious disease, and this flurry of new cases shows just how easily it can spread," Mrs Goodhew said.

Since the end of December 2013, there had been more than 200 cases of measles in New Zealand. The majority of cases had been in children and teenagers aged 10 to 20 years, initially affecting the Auckland and more recently, the Waikato region.

"With the school holidays only days away, parents should be mindful that families and children could be exposed to measles, especially if they are travelling, attending events or school camps, or have friends and family travelling to visit them," she said.

"Immunisation is the best protection to stop you and your children getting measles. Anyone who is not immunised and gets exposed to a case of measles will need to stay home for at least 14 days to ensure the virus doesn't spread."

These DHB's have confirmed the following measles cases since December 23 last year:

Waitemata - 63
Auckland - 21
Counties Manukau - 29
Waikato - 96
Lakes - 14
Bay of Plenty - 1
Taranaki - 1
Hawke's Bay - 5
Capital and Coast - 4