Parents and guardians are advised to check the vaccination status of their children. Photo: Supplied/ US CDC
A traveller in the Cook Islands, who was a close contact of an Auckland measles case, has now been released from quarantine after testing negative.
The traveller arrived in the Cooks Islands on 22 November.
Acting secretary of health Roana Mataitini told RNZ Pacific the testing results came back negative from New Zealand.
"The person that's currently been in quarantine has now been allowed to go about into the community, that news came about at 10 o'clock last night," Mataitini said.
As of 21 November, there were 21 cases of measles in New Zealand, although 18 are no longer infectious.
Australia has also been reporting cases.
Tourism is by far the Cook Islands biggest industry, accounting for about 70 percent of the nations gross domestic product (GDP).
Most visitors come from New Zealand with the second most coming from Australia.
Mataitini said the Health Ministry was "definitely concerned" by the outbreaks in the neighbouring countries. She said TMO expected further close contacts.
"We are not putting our guards down on this. We're still going to treat this very cautiously, and hence why our team is constantly working with the public health team in New Zealand on guidance."
