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Queensland Health
Health information > Dengue in North Queensland

Page heading with the wording Outbreak Update

Previous outbreaks in north Queensland

In the 1990s large outbreaks of dengue fever occurred in Townsville/Charters Towers, the Torres Strait, and the Cairns/Mossman area of north Queensland. These outbreaks resulted in a combined total of about 1600 confirmed cases of dengue.

Queensland has a history of dengue epidemics dating back to 1879, most of which occurred in north Queensland. Thirteen notable dengue epidemics have occurred in Queensland since 1885. The first fatality attributed to classical dengue occurred in Charters Towers in 1885 and the first fatality attributed to DHF (Dengue haemorrhagic fever) occurred in the same town during the 1897 epidemic, when Hare (1898) recorded 60 fatalities (30 of those were children).

The table below details the dengue outbreaks in north Queensland since 2000:

Year

Location

Reported cases

Duration (weeks)

Dengue type

2009

Innisfail

35

10

4

2009

Cairns

2

1

2

2008/09

Townsville

16

8

3

2008/09

Townsville

57

9

1

2008/09

Cairns [including Port Douglas (1), Yarrabah (1)
Injinoo (1), Mareeba (1)]

915

31

3

2008

Cairns

1

1

2

2008

Mossman & Port Douglas

22

10

3

2007

Townsville

46

12

3

2006

Cairns

29

18

2

2005-06

Townsville

8

6

3

2005

Townsville

18

22

4

2005

Torres Strait Islands

56

7

4

2004

Torres Strait Islands

1

1

2

2003-04

Cairns
Townsville
Torres Strait Islands

536

69

2

2003-04

Cairns

356

41

2

2003

Cairns

5

3

2

2003

Mareeba

1

1

1

2003

Cairns

3

2

1

2002

Kuranda

21

10

2

2002

Townsville 

2

2

1

2002

Cairns 

2

3

4

2001

Townsville 

9

3

2

2000

Cairns 

49

6

2

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Last Updated: 22 September 2009
Last Reviewed: 22 September 2009



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