dengue fever

The cases had no recent history of travel outside of Vanuatu so the dengue was locally acquired.

They identified in Efate in the areas of Erakor and Salili.

The Ministry of Health has urged residents in Port Vila and surrounding areas to take the necessary steps to prevent infection.

People must wear clothes that cover as much of the body as possible, use mosquito repellents, mosquito nets and other physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows.

The Vanuatu Ministry of Health has urged residents in Port Vila and surrounding areas to take the necessary steps to prevent infection.

The ministry wants people to wear clothes that cover as much of the body as possible, to use repellents and mosquito nets and other physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows.

They also asked people to eliminate opportunities for standing water to collect, which provides places for the the mosquitoes breed - such as open drains, blocked manholes and old tyres left outside.

In a statement to update the public on the current dengue situation in Vanuatu, the Ministry of Health (MoH) conveyed that the two cases confirmed at VCH had recently traveled to Santo while the two confirmed at NPH had no travel history outside of Santo.

Two samples have been confirmed to be DENV-2 serotype, the same ones detected during the 2016-2017, 2018 and 2019 dengue outbreak, which affected all provinces of Vanuatu.

According to the MoH, if no new dengue serotype is introduced, the current outbreak should not be as important as the one occurred in 2016-2017.

The country was still reeling from the devastation caused by Cyclone Harold last month and heavy rains last week.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said dengue was spread by mosquitoes which thrived in pools of still water that gathered after a storm.

He urged the public to work with health officials who were conducting a door-to-door LTDD campaign to tackle leptospirosis, typhoid, dengue and diarrhoea.

"LTDD and Covid-19 share the same symptoms and the same precautions can be taken to combat them."

The WHO Pacific reports that there have been 476 dengue like-illness cases; of which 211 were laboratory confirmed.

The majority of the cases (45%) are in children.

In March, Tuvalu's Ministry of Health reported a surge in cases of dengue-like illness.

Tuvalu is to host the Pacific Islands Forum in August.

Health minister Imaes Roberts said those in hospital are not in a critical condition and there have been no deaths related to the latest dengue type 3 outbreak which was detected last month.

Mr Roberts said five people died from the mosquito borne disease in 2016 but he said he's confident the latest outbreak will be contained.

He said the public has taken preventative measures against mosquitoes but says recent rain has not helped.

He praised the public's response to clean-up and awareness campaigns regarding preventative measures against mosquitoes.

A biomedical lab in Tahiti has succeeded in nearly eradicating mosquitoes from a tiny nearby island, and researchers are gearing up to eliminate the pests from a larger island that is permanently inhabited by people. 

The eventual goal is to cut off transmission routes for mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika, which plague the Pacific. Researchers also hope that reducing the mosquito burden will help populations of local birds. On other islands, such as Hawaii, avian malaria spread by mosquitoes can devastate bird populations. 

New Zealand travellers are being warned to take precautions when going to affected areas amid a surge of dengue fever in the Pacific this year, and a “type 2” strain that hasn't been seen in 20 years.

The symptoms of aching joints, headaches and fever are the same, but the absence of the strain until recently means many people haven't developed immunity to it.

The public broadcaster says a teenager brought the virus from New Caledonia where an epidemic has been declared.

The infected patient is in hospital in Kaleveleve while health authorities have launched a campaign to prevent the spread of the disease.

The patient's home is being sprayed while staffs at the clinic rely on insect repellent.

The authorities point out that the virus can only be transmitted by a mosquito.

The outbreak in Wallis and Futuna follows spikes in several Pacific countries and territories.

Health authorities say a 71-year old man and an 82-year old woman died in hospital in early March after being weakened by the mosquito-borne disease.

According to the public broadcaster, since September almost 1,700 people have been infected with dengue.

A state of epidemic was declared two months ago.

The people most affected by the outbreak are those in the age brackets 15 to 19 and 25 to 29.