Cook Islands officials hope chikungunya outbreak contained
Health officials in the Cook Islands are hoping that a chikungunya outbreak is now under control after hundreds of people have been affected.
Transcript
Health officials in the Cook Islands are hoping that a chikungunya outbreak is now under control after hundreds of people have been affected.
The director of Public Health Services Dr Neti Herman told Don Wiseman that the numbers contracting the virus has been steadily declining since April, but they remaining vigilant.
NETI HERMAN: The virus was identified in October last year and then from 2015 the number of cases had been gradually increasing. In the month of April we had the highest we've had so far - 73 new cases in a week. We monitor it every week. In the year 2014 there were 15 cases identified. Then since 2015, now, there's 597 cases.
DON WISEMAN: So a sizable amount of the population. Was anyone seriously ill?
NH: Well we had no deaths as a result of chikungunya. The symptoms are very similar to that of the dengue, but the chikungunya is mainly in the Cook Islands, in Samoa and Kiribati. We had a significant increase in the month of April and we have campaigned to try and control the spread and we have been spraying the homes of the cases reported to us.
DW: I guess the big thing of course with the Cook Islands in the next couple of months is you've got the 50th anniversary of self-government coming up.
NH: That is our concern and also with tourism, we work very closely with the Ministry of Tourism here where we have produced a pamphlet and posters we have put up at the airport and when residents arrive we give them a pamphlet to tell them about chikungunya, mainly the signs and symptoms and also how they can prevent them being bitten by these mosquitoes that are responsible for transmitting the chikungunya virus.
DW: Your sense is that you're over this now though?
NH: Well we monitor every week. After the peak in April, it came down to 66 cases, then it went right down to 38, and now last time we had surveillance it's 33. So it's been on the decline for the last three weeks. We monitor it every week. We have control measures like spraying and also the media campaigns we've been doing. So far we are happy with the measures we have been doing and it's on the decline. And of course as you mentioned we have the 50th anniversary for the Cook Islands constitution celebrations end of June to July so we are really seriously concerned about this. And at the moment so far we've managed to keep it under control. And then we have scheduled two weeks we go around every home and inspect for breeding sites for mosquitoes and then hopefully people make an effort to keep their homes clean of breeding sites.
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