Mosquito

The World Mosquito Program's Oceania director says there's evidence the wolbachia infection has spread through the insect population and there have been no further cases of the viral illnesses in people.

Professor Cameron Simmons said the programme was having great success in tackling the difficult public health problems of dengue, zika and chikungunya, which are spread by aedes aegypti mosquitoes, particularly during the rainy season.

He said the preventive effect spreads with each release of the introduced mosquitoes.

These nets are credited with nearly 70% of malaria cases prevented since 2000.

But despite this progress, the disease continues to kill, and experts believe creative ideas are needed to help those who remain unprotected -- especially when they're away from home.

It's all around you

They said there had been 63 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness so far this year, up from seven in the whole of 2016.

Most of the cases have been in rural areas of Minas Gerais state, a Ministry of Health statement said.

The government has sent two million doses of yellow fever vaccines to the state.

The governor of Minas Gerais has declared a 180-day state of emergency.

What is yellow fever?

§  Caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes