A Sydney-based dance festival has been identified as the starting point of a viral outbreak that has now travelled internationally and seen nearly 15 cases of infection in just under a month. And it all started with b-boys and beat boxing.
Last month, more than 2,000 people headed to the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre at Homebush to witness the 2013 World Supremacy Battlegrounds (WSB).
Billed as “the biggest and most prestigious international hip hop street dance competition in the Southern Hemisphere,” the 9th edition of WSB was held over the 7th and 8th December as the world’s best hip hop dance troupes battled it out for $15,000 worth in prizes.
The “hottest dancers, freshest b-boys, rising singing stars and most amazing beat boxers” from all over the globe took part in the WSB competition before returning home to their various international homes, but nearly a month after the event, organisers issued a public health warning on the official WSB Facebook page to all attendees to be on the look out for flu-like symptoms, as ABC News reports.
Dancers and participants were cautioned to be on the lookout for symptoms of measles, prompted by an alert from NSW Health after they were made aware of three cases of the highly contagious viral illness in “people who PROBABLY contracted the infection while in Sydney,” read the WSB statement.
The highly contagious virus can be transmitted to those who aren’t fully immunised through simply coughing or sneezing, advised NSW Health communicable diseases director Dr Vicky Sheppeard, encouraging those who attended the dance event to be alert for measles symptoms. NSW Health were made aware of three cases of the highly contagious viral illness in “people who PROBABLY contracted the infection while in Sydney,” for the WSB Festival.
“Symptoms can include fever, tiredness, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes which usually last for several days before a red, blotchy rash appears,” the health warning continues, with those displaying symptoms urged to “contact their local public health unit or phone ahead to a GP to ensure that the waiting area is not shared with others.”
There have already been 14 reported cases of the measles stemming from the international hip-hop competition outbreak, as Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The first to fall ill was a 10-year-old Adelaide girl how had been at the competition, who first “came to NSW Health’s attention on December 27” according to WSB. Further reports of measles diagnosis arrived via a Sydney resident before the outbreak then travelled across the pond.
An 18-year-old woman from Auckland was diagnosed and then nine more New Zealand people in Turangi and Taupo – six of which hadn’t even been at the WSB competition but knew somebody that had been in attendance.
The latest report includes a 21-year-old man from Melbourne, on 3rd January, who had attended the WSB event but hadn’t developed viral symptoms until after spending Boxing Day taking advantage of post-Christmas sales at Chadstone shopping centre, with concerns that the virus – which usually incubates for 10 to 18 days – could appear in more developing cases.
The source of the measles spread has been been traced to a Filipino dancer from the Manila dance troupe, FMD Xtreme, who took first place in the International Open Division of the 2013 World Supremacy Battlegrounds against competitors from Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and three other countries.
FMD Xtreme’s management said the infected man had turned up to the hip-hop dance comp with flu-like symptoms, but “still performed because he came all the way from the Philippines,” explains WSB event director Marco Selorio.
As part of the event, the Filipino team and their contagious member were exposed to many of the other international teams through backstage rehearsals, as well as being seated with the 900 other performers in the stands at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre while witnessing other competitors perform during the various Varisty and Open Division rounds.
“They gave him cold and flu tablets but his rashes didn’t come out until December 11 – after the competition,” explains Selorio. “It’s hard to track something like this when the rashes don’t break out until after the event, we just don’t know.” The WSB director says the event is looking at health precautions for prevention in future.
Photo: Screenshot from the 1995 film ‘Outbreak’
