Shoppers and staff at Pacific Werribee have been put on notice after a Big W employee infected with measles worked at the centre for four consecutive days before being diagnosed.
Victoria’s acting chief health officer, Brett Sutton said the casual employee worked at the shop between March 3-6 while he was infectious.
Dr Sutton said the employee probably contracted measles from a recent trip to Bali, with the symptoms not becoming apparent until well after their return home.
“This individual did not require hospitalisation and is now recovering,” he said.
“We are concerned that more people may have been infected through contact with this individual in the community.
“Measles has an incubation period of up to 18 days so illness acquired from contact could still be coming through, and cases could still remain infectious for many days.”
Measles is a highly infectious viral disease that can cause serious illness, and often requires those infected to be admitted to hospital.
Dr Sutton said the disease first manifests itself as common cold symptoms such as fever, a runny nose, red eyes and cough, and progresses to a rash within a week, generally starting on the face and then spreading to the rest of the body.
In a statement Big W said it was working closely with the DHHS to ensure any customers or staff who may have come into contact with the patient were notified.
