Dengue Fever Outreach ‘On the Ground’ in Kona

An Aedes aegypti mosquito is pictured here. The mosquito is one of two in Hawai’i known to spread the dengue virus. Hawai’i Department of Health photo.

County and State teams will go door-to-door in Kailua-Kona beginning Wednesday in an attempt to conduct dengue fever education outreach in the community.

Hawai’i Department of Health, Hawai’i County Civil Defense, Community Emergency Response Teams, and community partners will join in the efforts.

The Dengue Education and Community Outreach Operation is a proactive and preventative effort to inform residents, visitors, and businesses in the Kailua-Kona area about ways to reduce exposure to dengue and to promote the “Fight the Bite” campaign, according to Civil Defense officials.

Businesses, residents, and property managers will be provided with informational flyers and posters. In addition, outreach workers will have a limited support of sample mosquito repellent spray cans.

Kailua-Kona has been identified as an area of high risk for dengue transmission. Civil Defense notes that the effort is to remind residents about the importance of the “Fight the Bite” campaign in ending the Big Island’s dengue outbreak.

On Tuesday, no new cases of dengue fever were confirmed. The total case count was 256, with two cases listed as “potentially infectious.”