SYDNEY - Northern Australia has been warned to brace for an outbreak of dengue fever this summer following an epidemic of the virus in neighbouring Asian countries.
A rash of the mosquito-borne illness has swept Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam, with more than 133,000 cases and 850deaths reported so far this year.
Infectious diseases experts have warned the outbreak does not bode well for Australia, which has historically imported all its most problematic fever strains from Asia.
"Given what's going on in the (regional) neighbourhood, the chances are we're going to get a lot of activity this year," said Associate Professor John Aaskov, from Queensland University of Technology.
"The extensive two-way travel between Australia and countries to our north ensures that dengue viruses are being constantly introduced into Australia with travellers."
Statistics from the federal Department of Health and Ageing show there have been 198 cases of dengue fever reported this year, already exceeding last year's total of 188, before the worst summer months.
Prof Aaskov said it was impossible to predict whether Australia would repeat the epidemic of 2003 when 860 cases were reported, mostly in Queensland.
But he warned numbers would likely climb if travellers imported strains 1 or 2 of the potentially-fatal virus.
The risk was heightened by changing trends in the way dengue outbreaks occurred in Asia.
"Typically, South-East Asian countries experience major outbreaks of dengue one year in every three to five, but the outbreaks now commonly spread over two years," Prof Aaskov said.
Experts are unsure why the outbreaks were getting larger but believe it may be triggered by rural residents relocating to large cities where they often end up living in squatter camps with no fresh water or garbage disposal.
"This leads to the storage of water in containers in which mosquitoes can breed and to the collection of water in discarded waste which are also ideal mosquito breeding sites," he said.
Prof Aaskov warned Australians planning to travel to South-East Asia to be "mosquito aware".
Several vaccines are undergoing trials, but as yet there is no jab to protect against the virus.
