Tahiti Prepares As WHO Declares Pacific Dengue Pandemic

Tahiti Prepares As WHO Declares Pacific Dengue Pandemic
Chelsea Thompson
Friday: September 19, 2008 - 4:02 PM
The World Health Organization has declared a dengue pandemic on the island of Tahiti. Dengue is a mosquito borne illness that sometimes causes deadly hemorrhaging. There is no treatment or vaccine for the virus. Thousands of cases have popped up in the pacific islands, and the numbers are continuing to rise. There are already upwards of 1600 cases so far (these being the only reported cases, there could be more). People are proposing genetically engineered mosquitoes to stop the spread of the virus. While the virus it not contagious (you have to be bitten by a mosquito to contract it), you can contract different types of the Dengue. A person who had type one is not susceptible to type one again, but is fair game to contract type four. Tahiti health officials are worried that with a population of 155,000 people, the type four virus could prove to be more lethal. Because the people have not been exposed to type four, they are not immune. Island officials are worried that traveling tourists are going to bring type four dengue into the country, bringing with it a risk of infecting more people.
I think that people that have contracted the virus should not be allowed to travel between the pacific islands. I feel that people should be more aware of the possible damaging effects the virus can cause and be tested just in case. That way, the spread of the virus could be more controlled and wouldn’t infect as many people.
http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/09/19/tahiti-prepares-as-who-declares-pacific-dengue-pandemic