There was a marked difference in the proportion of imported cases in Victoria and WA. In WA 50 (49%) of the first 102 cases had travelled (eight overseas, 38 to Victoria and four to other Australian states) and a further 20 were directly linked to those cases that had travelled interstate. This is similar to the experiences of countries in the northern hemisphere. For example, in Spain 78% of the first 98 cases had acquired their infection abroad [26] ; in the United Kingdom 44% of the first 65 cases reported travel to the United States or Mexico [27] ; in Germany 47% of the first 198 cases were described as imported [28] and in Turkey 77% of the first 111 confirmed cases in the Turkish community were imported [29] . In Ireland 84% of the first 156 cases were imported, 14 (9%) were infected in Ireland by an imported case and two (1%) were infected in Ireland without any identifiable travel association [30] .