SYDNEY, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Australia's most populous state have issued a measles warning for western Sydney.

New South Wales (NSW) Health on Thursday advised people to be alert for signs and symptoms of measles after a confirmed case was infectious while in the greater western Sydney region earlier in January.

The case had recently returned from Vietnam, NSW Health said, where there is a large outbreak of measles.

They were not infectious while on their flight, but anyone who attended a doctor's clinic in Berala, about 16 km west of central Sydney, on the morning of Jan. 18 has been told to monitor for the development of symptoms.

"Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes, runny nose and a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that starts on the head and face, then spreads to the rest of the body," Mitchell Smith, NSW Health's director of public health for the region, said in a statement.

Smith said that it can take up to 18 days for symptoms of measles to appear after being exposed.

He urged anyone experiencing symptoms to call ahead before visiting their doctor.

The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is free for anyone in NSW born after 1965 who has not already had two doses. Enditem

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