Diphtheria outbreak, Northern Territory of Australia, 2025 to 2026

Eurosurveillance 2026 Open access

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Authors: A J Draper, Mark Sistrom, Kimberley McMahon, Robert Duguid, Jerry Chen, Georgia Cramp, Thomas Cherian, Mirsaed Miri Nargesi, Dzulfikaar Sutandar, K. R. Freeman, Kelly Lomas, Tarrant Tolotta
+26 more Jenine C Gunn, Rowena Boyd, Jann Hennessy, Tinus Creeper, Jaimee Harbidge, Fátima Sarmiento, R D Curr, Jennifer Yan, Joshua Reginald Francis, Rob Baird, Hayley Stratton, Jane Davies, Catherine Marshall, Sonja Janson, Nerida Moore, Rebecca Wardell, Eugene Athan, George Drewett, Liz Moore, E G LAYTON, Unni Susil Kumar, Rosalind Webby, Ashish Yadav, Vicki Krause, Bhavi Ravindran, Ella M Meumann
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.23.2600443
Cited by: 1
References: 14

Abstract

Because of high vaccination rates, the Northern Territory of Australia had not seen locally transmitted toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae since the 1990s, until cutaneous diphtheria cases emerged in May 2025 and respiratory cases in March 2026. By 30 April 2026, there had been 131 cases (34 respiratory, 97 cutaneous) in an ongoing outbreak characterised by a high proportion of cutaneous cases with transmission driven by crowding and consequent poor skin health. Most patients have had mild disease due to prior vaccination.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Diphtheria Corynebacterium and Tetanus Botulinum Toxin and Related Neurological Disorders Intramuscular injections and effects

Publication details

Journal / source
Eurosurveillance
Publisher
European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
Volume
31
Issue
23
Publication date
11 June 2026
Language
EN