24 Oct 2008

Dengue claims life in New Caledonia

3:22 pm on 24 October 2008

New Caledonia's health services have revealed the first death related to the current dengue fever epidemic.

Oceania Flash reports the victim was a woman in her fifties, from the town of La Foa.

Health services say the total number of cases reported is now at 1,016.

New Caledonia has been gripped by the epidemic for the past four months.

Other parts of the Pacific, particularly Fiji, are being affected by a less common type of dengue.