Source: Radio New Zealand
Aedes aegypti mosquitos spreading the dengue virus between people, people in the Cook Islands, including tourists, have been warned to take precautions. Tony Wills via iNaturalist (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A clinician says dengue fever vaccines should be made available in New Zealand as the Cook Islands reports a death from their current outbreak – an outbreak that has seen cases of the disease in Aotearoa grow too.
The country’s health ministry said an elderly patient with underlying conditions had arrived to hospital late in the disease’s progression, and died on 2 February.
Authorities have now announced Operation Namu-26 to raise awareness and promote prevention, including reminding tourists to stay safe.
Dengue is a virus passed between people by mosquitos, and Operation Namu-26 will include an increase in insecticide spraying work on the affected islands, as well as a nation-wide clean up to reduce places where water could pool and mosquito eggs could be.
The Cook Islands declared a dengue outbreak in May 2025, and more than 500 cases have been recorded there since.
In New Zealand, 86 people had been reported to have contracted dengue, with 75 of those cases connected to travel to the Cook Islands.
There had been “a significant increase in dengue cases on Rarotonga at the end of December 2025, and again at the end of January 2026”, the Cook Islands health ministry said. Cases had also been found on the islands of Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke and Mangaia.
Clinician calls for travellers to take precautions, and vaccine to be made available in New Zealand
A vaccine against dengue is essential for New Zealanders to avoid potentially life-threatening bouts of the disease, and should also be made available here too, Auckland doctor Marc Shaw told RNZ.
There is currently no vaccine against dengue currently available in New Zealand, Health New Zealand said.
Shaw is the founder and medical director of Worldwise Travellers Health, and said a dengue vaccine is available in Australia, and has been trailed and tested across most of the world, including in Europe, the US, and South America.
There was strong demand for it in New Zealand, but it needs to be registered by Medsafe in order to be offered here, he said.
Children and older people are more susceptible to dengue fever, Shaw said. And while a first infection is usually not too serious for a healthy adult, the disease is also dangerous for anyone who catches it a second time.
Everyone headed to the Pacific should use the insect repellent permethrin, including spraying their clothes with it, and should wear light coloured clothing, Shaw said.
“The second attack can be a lot more sinister, in that it can cause a lot more potential for death or more serious disease requiring hospitalisation.
“So to this end, it is very important, that if people have had dengue fever in the past, that they take extra precautions for prevention of the disease on the second, third or fourth attack.”
Most types of mosquito are more active at dawn and dusk, but the mosquito species that transmits dengue is active for many hours during the day. It can also transmit other harmful viruses, including Zika and Chikungunya.
“It’s a daytime biting mosquito, and because of that, mosquito repellant is going to be essential for the prevention of diseases at that time,” Shaw said.
“I don’t recommend that people need to necessarily stop going to these wonderful areas that we have on our back doorstep, but to take good precautions – just to be aware of having some good mosquito repellant.
“I and my group are trying to make [a vaccine against dengue] more readily available, because we have a lot of demand for it – and it is this demand I think which is particularly significant at the moment, where the potential of the disease becomes a lot more likely given that people going into a dengue-ridden area can be attacked very easily by mosquito bites.”
Cook Islands tourism spots to take prevention measures
Tourist companies would be providing dengue prevention items to visitors and spraying on their properties following the ministry’s guidelines, the Cook Islands ministry of health said.
Anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms, headache, joint or muscle pain, or rash should “seek urgent medical attention immediately …so that timely care can be provided”.
New Zealand clinician and University of Auckland lecturer Dr Maryann Heather recently told RNZ that one in four people infected with dengue get sick.
Symptoms include headaches, pain behind the eyes, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain, skin rash, lethargy, tiredness, and high fever, and can be severe. The disease can be more dangerous for young children and elderly people.
“If you aren’t improving or concerned, you should seek medical attention, especially if you think you have dengue fever after returning from the islands,” Heather said.
“It’s crucial to educate and warn people travelling back to the islands so they are aware that dengue fever is present, especially since it is seasonal.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
