Rocky plan for dengue

A PUBLIC Health emergency has been declared in Rockhampton following confirmation of a locally acquired case of dengue fever.

Queensland Health will today enact a full outbreak response in Rockhampton after a patient was confirmed with the mosquito-borne infection.

Experts believe it’s the first case of locally acquired dengue detected in the Central Queensland city “for decades” – prompting an urgent response from authorities whose control efforts have kept dengue contained to the Far North.

Queensland Health last night raised the alarm and today the Central Queensland Public Health Unit in partnership with the Rockhampton Regional Council will go doorto-door in the patient’s neighbourhood to warn residents.

A spokeswoman said last night a person was bitten by a mosquito known as an Aedes aegypti, which is capable of transmitting dengue.