A Hawke's Bay seasonal worker is the first to be diagnosed with measles in the region.
The worker didn't know they were infected when they were travelling, Hawke's Bay District Health Board's Dr Rachel Eyre said in a statement today.
It comes as a measles epidemic tightens its grip in the Pacific. A fatal outbreak in Samoa has killed 32 people so far, while Tonga and Fiji have also declared states of emergency to tackle their own outbreaks.
Contractors in the Hawke's Bay told 1 NEWS last week an outbreak would be a disaster for the busy harvest.
"If we don't get the workers in, or the workers can't work to their full potential, then we will be struggling," Thornhill Contractors' Richard Bibby said.
Dr Eyre says the public health unit has been working with the 38 recognised seasonal employers in the Hawke's Bay, with a "great response".
"[We] have actively encouraged our RSE employers to provide lists of their workers and their immunisation status so we can put plans in place should there be an outbreak."
Close contacts with the worker have been identified and put into isolation, Dr Eyre says.
Around 5000 workers come into Hawke's Bay during October and April, with most from Vanuatu and Samoa.
SHARE ME