Caption: Guests enjoying volleyball in the pool at Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji Resort. None of the international visitors to our shores have been diagnosed or are under any threat of a dengue outbreak. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.
Visitors to Fiji are being assured by the health authorities that there is minimal risk to visitors from an outbreak of Dengue Fever in certain parts of the country.
While a total of 2,589 Fijians have so far tested positive to the mosquito-borne disease, no international visitor is among the confirmed cases.
On the Coral Coast around the town of Sigatoka – where several of the major resorts are situated – the 30 people diagnosed with Dengue Fever are locals who contracted the disease elsewhere in Fiji. And while there are 255 suspected cases around the airport town of Nadi, none of them are from the main resort island of Denarau.
No outbreak has been reported on Denarau itself, where health authorities are working with resort operators on prevention measures.
By far the most number of cases – 1,635 – are in the Central Division of Fiji around the capital, Suva. International visitors, like the locals, are being advised to take the usual precautions, including the use of mosquito repellent and the lighting of coils and pads.
An intense public health campaign is underway in the affected areas urging Fijians to empty any containers carrying water in which the disease-carrying mosquitoes can breed. The Fijian Ministry of Health has set up a special task force to deal with the outbreak, in conjunction with international health agencies, and has deployed extra resources to hospitals and health clinics to attend to those affected.
Local councils have been spraying cities and towns with insecticide and special teams are also being deployed to deal with the outbreak in rural areas.
Dengue Fever is characterized by a high fever, headaches and sore joints.
MINFO