Auckland high school cancels mayoral event due to measles outbreak

South Auckland has been at the centre of a measles epidemic, with lower rates of vaccination partly to blame. Photo / File

Manurewa High School has cancelled a mayoral campaign event that was meant to be held tomorrow evening, due to the ongoing measles outbreak.

As of today there have been 700 cases of measles this year in Auckland - 475 of them in South Auckland.

Manurewa's Meet the Candidates event was to be held from 5.30pm on Thursday at the high school to give students an opportunity to hear from candidates as part of a civics education programme run by Auckland Council.

An email sent this evening by the Board of Trustees chair said a number of cases had been identified at the school.

The board had decided to postpone all non-school events for health and safety reasons.

Ten students from the school have now been confirmed to have measles, Auckland Regional Public Health Service's medical officer of health Dr William Rainger said.

"The service is supporting the school to stop the spread of the virus. It is providing advice on who needs to be in quarantine because they may have been exposed to measles, and are not immune.

"A student or staff member with measles can easily infect others in a secondary school, where students move around to different classes and there are also cultural and sports teams."

In recent weeks the measles outbreak has reached epidemic levels. The Government today announced it would look to set up vaccination stations in churches and shopping malls to improve access to the vaccine.

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot is free for anyone under 50 who has not had two documented doses. It is available nationwide at any general practice clinic.