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Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland, said that spreading misinformation online, in an environment in which people were reasonably fearful, was \"altogether really unfortunate.\"

While the country's low vaccination rates ultimately primed it for a measles outbreak, anti-vaccine propaganda isn't helping matters, according to Petousis-Harris.

\"It's a small place. Word spreads fast,\" Hawley said. \"The government messaging is getting out pretty quickly. But that anti-vaccine conversation can spread equally quickly. Everybody talks.\"

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