Passengers sought from 'measles baby' flight

Health authorities are continuing to track down people exposed to measles by a baby who flew from London to Christchurch via Auckland.

The baby arrived in Auckland on Air New Zealand flight NZ1 on Monday, December 7, before travelling to Christchurch on flight NZ509.

Officials were trying to contact people sitting near the baby on both flights: for the international leg, 56 people sitting in rows 56-60 were at risk, while 28 people sitting in rows 13-17 were exposed on the domestic flight.

"Yesterday, we had a great day in terms of getting all the contacts we possibly could through the passenger arrival cards, giving as many of those people a ring as we could and also sending letters out to them," Auckland Regional Public Health Service medical officer of health Dr Brad Novak said.

"From our point of view the contact trace has been as good as we could do it."

Several other public health units around the country had been informed about the situation so passengers listed outside of Christchurch and Auckland could also be reached.

Dr Novak said the incubation period for measles was between seven and 20 days, so if anyone had caught the disease they could be showing symptoms now.

"Even though the risk of transmission is relatively low on a flight, there's always the chance it could go further, but we haven't heard of any cases yet so that's good news."

If any of the specified passengers or their family were showing symptoms they were advised to immediately seek advice from a doctor.

"Call ahead to alert your doctor or practice nurse about the possibility of measles as this will allow them to arrange to assess you safely without infecting others. People who suspect they may have measles should avoid contact with young children and pregnant women."

Those most at risk of contracting the disease were those who had not had the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine or who had just had one dose of it. Anyone born before 1969 was likely to be immune without having had the vaccine.

Measles was spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing, and could cause a rash, high fever, runny nose and sore, watery eyes. It was occasionally fatal.

- NZPA