Australia’s largest recorded diphtheria outbreak is spreading through remote Indigenous communities

By the time a national vaccine blitz was announced this week, unlinked cases had already been reported in four states. Why did it take so long for governments to act? Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The first time the Northern Territory GP and public health medical officer Dr John Boffa learned that the highly contagious bacterial infection diphtheria was spreading in his community was in late March – several months after the outbreak first began. “By the time we...

By Melissa Davey and Sarah Collard