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Diphtheria outbreak grows in WA
Cases of the bacterial disease in the Kimberley region have more than tripled in a short time, raising concern over vaccination rates.
Vaccination had effectively eradicated cases of diphtheria in Western Australia.
An outbreak of diphtheria in the Kimberley region of Western Australia has seen cases of the disease more than triple in a short time.
Last month, the WA Department of Health issued a clinician alert warning of seven cases of toxigenic diphtheria among Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley since December 2025.
On Sunday, the ABC reported that number had more than tripled.
Figures published on the WA notifiable disease dashboard on Wednesday showed 34 cases in the state so far this year, including 29 in the Kimberley, two each in the Goldfields and Pilbara regions, as well as one case registered in metro Perth.
The cases range in age profile, from 0–4 years to a resident aged 70–74.
Five of the initial reported cases were cutaneous, while two were respiratory, the first such cases to be notified in the state for more than 50 years.
‘Clinicians are advised to be vigilant for patients presenting with clinically suspicious skin sores, infected wounds, or upper respiratory illness in or from the Kimberley, and potentially the Pilbara or Goldfields regions,’ the alert reads.
Cases notified nationally are also the highest since surveillance began, with more than half of those recorded in the Northern Territory.
RACGP Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman said the rapid rise in case numbers is a cause for concern and likely to be linked to declining vaccination rates.
‘Diphtheria is one of those diseases where vaccinations have effectively eradicated it in Australia,’ she told newsGP.
‘Patients who may be travelling from northern parts of Western Australia or from some areas of Northern Territory, we need to have a high suspicion and be testing for diphtheria because of what we are seeing.
‘This condition can be potentially fatal.’
A contact tracing system is in place and at-risk people are being supported to get booster vaccinations, a State Government spokesperson told the ABC.
One patient reportedly had a life-threatening case and was flown to Perth for treatment.
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Aboriginal health diphtheria Kimberley region vaccination Western Australia
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