9 Jan 2014

Ministry of Health in Fiji tackling type-3 Dengue Fever outbreak

4:28 pm on 9 January 2014

The Ministry of Health in Fiji says it is doing its best to tackle an outbreak of a new strain of dengue fever sweeping parts of the country.

It says the outbreak is based in Fiji's central division, particularly in Suva.

The minister, Neil Sharma, says the dengue strain has now been confirmed as type-3, which has caused problems in other parts of the Pacific in the past year.

"We are doing our level best. We are asking the people to do their component too. We have spraying going on, we have house-to-house sampling, we have mosquito lava sampling going on and we are advising people to come in early. We have the systems all on alert. The hospitals are tackling the dengue outbreak as effectively as they can."

Neil Sharma says the outbreak has not resulted in any fatalities.

Dengue fever is transmitted by infected mosquitos and symptoms include a high fever, severe headaches and

extreme muscle and joint pains.