General News
21 May, 2025
Rare dengue fever case
THE first locally acquired case of dengue fever in the Cairns region in nearly a decade has been recorded.
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) region has been relatively dengue fever free since 2018, when the last locally acquired case of the mosquito-borne illness on the Atherton Tablelands.
The absence of dengue from the Far North has been largely due to the success of the World Mosquito Program, which released mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria into the wild starting in 2011.
The bacteria prevents Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from transmitting the dengue virus to humans. All dengue fever cases in the Cairns region since 2018 have been acquired either from overseas or interstate.
CHHHS’ public health director Dr Jacqui Murdoch said a patient had recently acquired dengue fever locally and had not travelled outside of the region.
“The patient is currently stable and receiving treatment at home,” she said.
“We are looking into how they may have become infected.
“Our team is spraying mosquitoes in the area where the patient lives and examining whether we need to spray any other areas where the person may have visited during the infection period.”
Dr Murdoch said due to high numbers of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria in the Cairns region, there was low risk to the public.
However, she said people still needed to be vigilant when it came to preventing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
“Dengue fever is just one of many infections carried by mosquitoes in our part of the world,” she said.
“There are also other mosquito-borne diseases that people need to be wary of, such as Ross River virus, malaria, Barmah Forest virus and chikungunya.
“Infection with mosquito borne diseases may cause illness ranging from mild to very serious.”
Dr Murdoch said there were simple things to protect people from mosquito bites.
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