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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Remote Laboratory Management: Respiratory Virus Diagnostics
Published on: April 6, 2019
Diphtheria outbreak, Northern Territory of Australia, 2025 to 2026
Anthony Dk Draper1,2,3,4, Mark Sistrom1,5,6,7, Kimberley McMahon4
1These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.
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.
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