- Australia is grappling with its largest diphtheria outbreak in decades, with almost 220 cases reported across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
- The resurgence of the Victorian-era disease is primarily linked to a decline in childhood vaccination rates, which reached a five-year low in 2025.
- A significant majority of the reported cases involve Indigenous Australians, leading health authorities to partner with Aboriginal agencies to improve immunisation.
- Federal Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed a government support package is being drafted, including additional vaccines and a surge workforce, noting that approximately 25% of cases require hospitalisation.
- Health authorities are investigating a suspected diphtheria death, which, if confirmed, would be the country's first fatality from the disease in almost a decade.
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