Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has expressed serious concern as one of Australia's worst diphtheria outbreaks spreads beyond the Northern Territory into Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.
"It's serious in the Northern Territory.
"So we're working very closely with the Northern Territory government, but also with the Aboriginal-controlled sector."
What to know about diphtheria as outbreak grows Once a major cause of childhood deaths, diphtheria was largely eliminated through vaccination.
John Boffa says diphtheria has reached "all over the Northern Territory" and urged Indigenous Territorians in particular to get tested and vaccinated as soon as possible.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has expressed serious concern as one of Australia's worst diphtheria outbreaks spreads beyond the Northern Territory into Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.
Australia's National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System reports a total of 133 notifications of the disease in the NT since the current outbreak began, with another 79 in WA, six in SA and up to five in Queensland.
Speaking with ABC Radio National this morning, Mr Butler said he was "very concerned" about what was "probably the biggest diphtheria outbreak we've seen, certainly for decades".
Mr Butler said the federal government was still waiting on the outcome of an NT government investigation into a reported diphtheria-related death, "but there's no question that this is serious".
"It's serious in the Northern Territory. It's spreading across other parts of the Top End. It's crept below the South Australian border into the [Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara] APY Lands," he said.
"So we're working very closely with the Northern Territory government, but also with the Aboriginal-controlled sector."
What to know about diphtheria as outbreak grows Once a major cause of childhood deaths, diphtheria was largely eliminated through vaccination. Health authorities say falling immunity may now be helping the disease spread again.
The health minister said he had met with Aboriginal medical services in Alice Springs, where staff were "deeply, deeply concerned" about the outbreak, with "almost all of the cases" affecting Indigenous Australians.
"We've lifted our efforts around vaccine activity there. You've got to get a booster probably every five years if you're an adult," he said.
"We're working with the NT government and the Aboriginal-controlled sector to get more vaccines there, but we're also working with the Northern Territory government about other things that we can do to help them."
Thousands still need boosters
Speaking with ABC Radio Alice Springs this morning, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress health service's John Boffa said there had been a slight decrease in cases this week.
"We've been seeing around 15 to 20 new cases a week, very consistently across the territory for the last four to six weeks or so," he said.
"As we test more people, we were finding more and maybe, hopefully, we're going to get to a point where we've been testing a very large number of people and numbers will start to drop as we see more people vaccinated."
As of Tuesday afternoon, Dr Boffa said he understood there were 154 cases of diphtheria across the territory.
John Boffa says diphtheria has reached "all over the Northern Territory" and urged Indigenous Territorians in particular to get tested and vaccinated as soon as possible. (ABC News: Xavier Martin)
Dr Boffa said there had been "very good vaccine acceptance" so far, but up to half of Central Australia's 18,000-strong Aboriginal population were yet to receive a booster after the recommended interval was revised from 10 years to five years for at-risk populations.
"I think we should start to see this turn the corner if we can keep those vaccination rates going, and as quickly as we can," he said.
Dr Boffa said the outbreak had reached "all over the Northern Territory", including a number of remote communities, and was at the stage where "the more we look, the more [cases] we find".
"So that's the message, wherever you are, there's a risk, and you've got to get boosted," he said.
"Anyone with a sore throat at this stage needs to go to their clinic, and they need to have their throat swabbed," he said.
"Anyone who's got a skin sore, again you need to go to your clinic with a skin sore and get it swabbed."
Thousands of Aboriginal people in Central Australia are yet to receive their five-year diphtheria vaccine booster. (AP: Frank Augstein/Pool)
Dr Boffa said while there was still no official cause of death in the one suspected diphtheria fatality so far, there was a "95 per cent certainty" it was related to the illness.
"I understand the government has to wait for its processes and for a final report to be declared by the coroner," he said.
"But when we're in the midst of a communicable disease outbreak, and we're trying to encourage people to get vaccinated, and we're trying to effectively communicate the potential life-threatening nature of this disease, it is important that this sort of information gets out sooner rather than later."
WA's Kimberley region facing outbreak
The vast majority of the 79 cases of diphtheria detected in WA this year have been recorded in the Kimberley region.
The ABC understands at least one of those cases has been detected in the remote community of Kalumburu, located about 280 kilometres north-west of Kununurra.
Kalumburu, which has a population of about 300 people, only has one small health clinic.
The remote Aboriginal community of Kalumburu is on the northern coast of the Kimberley. (ABC Kimberley: Erin Parke)
Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Kim Holm said she understood the resident had isolated and received medication.
"Whether there was anybody else within contact with them previous to the isolation and taking this medication, I'm not sure," Ms Holm said.
"Now that it's actually in Kalumburu, it's become a little bit nefarious amongst the community and people living there."
Ms Holm said the local Kalumburu health clinic had advised all community members of health guidelines and was confident the clinic was prepared for any potential further cases.
"Obviously with anything that is contagious, when it hits a community it does move pretty quickly," she said
"We're just hoping for the best."
SA public health officer speaks on APY Lands outbreak
South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the state's health department was supporting the Nganampa Health Council, which provides healthcare services in the APY Lands, to provide more vaccinations and boosters to eligible people.
Nicola Spurrier says Indigenous people in SA can access a free vaccination or booster shot for diphtheria. (ABC News; Che Chorley)
She said workers in the APY Lands and Indigenous people across South Australia could access the vaccine for free, or a booster if they had not received one in the past five years.
"It's definitely something that prevention is much better than a cure," Professor Spurrier said.
Professor Spurrier said antibiotics were also available to treat infections, along with an antitoxin in the most serious cases.
"It's a little bit of an extra treatment we can use in case someone gets very, very sick," she said.
