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Kōrero: Epidemics

Measles at Parihaka

Image
A newspaper clipping about a measles outbreak at Parihaka.

European settlers bought with them to New Zealand many new infectious diseases to which Māori had no immunity. Measles and influenza, in particular, caused many deaths. This newspaper report describes a fatal outbreak of measles at Parihaka in Taranaki during a hui (meeting) in 1887.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Evening Post, 4 July 1887, p. 2

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Geoff Rice, Epidemics – The typhoid era, 1810s to 1890s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/document/27781/measles-at-parihaka (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Geoff Rice, i tāngia i te 30 March 2011.