There have been more than 2,500 cases of Dengue Fever so far this year with one death recorded by the Health Ministry.

Minister Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete says dengue is a worrying disease as it not only poses a threat to all Fijians but also to the tourism sector.

With the rapid rise in Dengue Fever around the world, Dr. Waqainabete revealed in parliament today that more than a hundred countries have had a dengue epidemic.

“Dengue in Fiji is not a new disease. It was first described in 1885. We’ve also had several epidemics in between. One of the largest was in 1998-1999, where we had 13,000 Fijians and we lost about 13 people. The other big epidemic was in 2012 – 2013 and 2014-2015 where we’ve had 16 deaths. Last year, we had 2 deaths from dengue. So we’re beginning to see that even though around the world dengue is causing a lot of mobility and mortality – we’ve been able to control the mortality locally and also the mobility.”

Opposition Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka questioned the Minister if Fiji’s Dengue Fever situation is becoming a serious concern.

“Is dengue bad enough to attract WHO’s attention so that it puts out those travel advisories and we include in our invitation for people to come here – like we used to have with people going into Malaria infected areas. Will we have some injections or tablets when they’re there and a few days after we leave.”

Dr. Waqainabete says in Fiji’s case – there are no tablets for Dengue Fever as the situation is not as bad as other countries.