WELLINGTON: The New Zealand health authorities on Friday issued a nationwide alert following a confirmed case of measles.

The alert comes after a person with measles flew from Wellington to Auckland on Tuesday after attending a number of activities in the capital, including an event with a number of students who have since traveled to other parts of the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

Immunologist Dianne Sika-Paotonu, head of the University of Otago Wellington Pacific Office, called on the public on Friday to get vaccinated against measles.

A measles vaccine is readily available, and effectively prevents illness and stops its spread to other people, Sika-Paotonu said, adding measles symptoms include fever, cold-like symptoms, sore, red eyes followed by a blotchy rash.

The measles outbreak in New Zealand in 2019 and 2020 resulted in more than 2,000 people infected, and according to the Ministry of Health, approximately 30 per cent of those who were unwell ended up in hospital.

Measles can turn into a severe illness for those who are at risk, and this current situation needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness given the risk of resurgence in measles cases and a potential measles outbreak in New Zealand, the immunologist warned.