According to the national disease surveillance system, Australia has confirmed 168 measles cases so far in 2025, News.Az reports, citing ABC.
This marks a sharp increase compared with 2024, when only 57 cases were reported nationwide.
Case numbers were even lower in previous years, with 26 cases recorded in 2023 and just seven in 2022. In 2021, no measles cases were reported at all, largely due to widespread global lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Experts told the ABC that the current rise reflects a worldwide resurgence of measles, combined with Australia’s lagging vaccination rates. Globally, at least 59 countries experienced large-scale measles outbreaks in 2024, including a quarter of nations that had previously eliminated the highly contagious disease.
"Measles has been really uncommon in general practice for decades," Ramya Raman, vice-president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), said.
"That's primarily been because of the highly effective immunisation program and also the fact that we were achieving herd immunity.
"We're now in a changing environment, and we're seeing a lot more outbreaks."
Australia was declared free of measles in 2014, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The number of cases dropped into double digits — 74 in total — the following year, before steadily climbing again, reaching 284 annual cases by 2019.
