CANBERRA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has recorded the country's first reported death from diphtheria in nearly a decade, as health authorities grapple with a growing outbreak concentrated in remote Indigenous communities.

Public health officials said on Friday that the death occurred several weeks ago in a remote area. Diphtheria, a vaccine-preventable bacterial infection that can affect the respiratory system, can be fatal if untreated.

The NT declared an outbreak in March, the first since the 1990s. A total of 161 cases have now been reported nationwide, with over 100 in the Territory alone, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

According to health data from the Australian Center for Disease Control, more than 98 percent of locally acquired cases are among Indigenous residents, mostly in outer regional and remote areas.

Medical experts say severe cases are largely among people who are unvaccinated or overdue for booster shots. While childhood vaccination rates remain high, immunity can wane without follow-up doses in adolescence and adulthood.

Officials also pointed to post-pandemic vaccine hesitancy and gaps in access as possible drivers of the outbreak. ■