Australia faces 'biggest diphtheria outbreak' in decades

Australia is likely facing its "biggest diphtheria outbreak" in decades, the country's health minister has warned, as an investigation continues into a possible death.

Mark Butler said in a radio interview with ABC Radio National yesterday that almost all cases of the potentially fatal infection, which can cause scarring and respiratory disease, were among Indigenous Australians.

Infections are concentrated in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) but are "spreading" to new areas, Mr Butler cautioned.

While a vaccine for diphtheria exists, booster vaccinations are needed among adults for continued immunity.

The minister said the Australian government has boosted vaccine activity and is working to get more vaccines to the area.

While there have been reports of a death related to the disease, Mr Butler said the NT government "is still investigating that," but that "there's no question this is serious".

The latest data from the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System shows that there have been hundreds of cases this year, with 133 in the NT and 82 in Western Australia.

Australians are now being advised to consider getting vaccinated if they are travelling to areas with higher risks and have not had a diphtheria vaccine in the past 5 years.

Diphtheria cases in Australia had dropped significantly since the introduction of a school-based vaccination program in 1932, when more than 14,000 cases were reported.

Over 90% of Australian children have been vaccinated against the disease since 2000, with 94% of five-year-olds being vaccinated in 2023, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

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The UK government does not currently list diphtheria on its vaccine recommendation list for Australia.

How rare is diphtheria?

Diphtheria is a very rare infection in Britain due to the success of the routine immunisation programme that was introduced in 1942.

At that time, the average annual number of diphtheria cases in England was about 60,000 per year, with 4,000 deaths.

Over the past decade, the number of diphtheria cases in England has increased from an average of 2 to 11 cases per year (except for 2020).

Since June 2022, there has been an increase in cases of diphtheria due to toxigenic C. diphtheriae, a specific strain of bacteria which causes diphtheria, reported among asylum seekers in Europe.

A similar increase in cases has been reported in the UK.

The Australian outbreak comes amid global health concerns over a spiking number of Ebola cases in Africa and a recent high-profile deadly outbreak of hantavirus onboard a cruise ship.

(c) Sky News 2026: Australia faces 'biggest diphtheria outbreak' in decades