8 Oct 2008

Fiji dengue cases climb to 1,800

2:10 pm on 8 October 2008

Fiji's ministry of health says more than 1,800 people are now suffering from dengue fever.

The country declared a dengue outbreak on September the 2nd.

The dengue virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and can be fatal.

The ministry's director of primary preventative health services, Dr Losevati Alefaio, says it's affecting everyone, and the youngest victim is a two-month old baby.

"We had a total of 1849 cases. That's for the whole of Fiji. It still hasn't moved away from the central divison and the western divison. That's where the cases are mostly."

Dr Losevati Alefaio says the ministry is spraying and running public awareness campaigns, but adds the public must get rid of water containers where larvae breed and wear insect repellent at all times.