Melbourne man dies from Japanese encephalitis after returning from Thailand

A MELBOURNE man who had been on holiday in Thailand has died from the rare mosquito-borne virus Japanese encephalitis.

The man’s death is only the 10th reported case in Australia and only Victoria’s second. AFP Photo / YE AUNG THU

A MELBOURNE man who had been on holiday in Thailand has died from the rare mosquito-borne virus Japanese encephalitis.

The virus occurs mainly in China, South-East Asia and Indonesia.

The man’s death is only the 10th reported case in Australia and only Victoria’s second.

The victim, believed to be a man in his 60s, had visited Phuket for 10 days in early May before returning back to Melbourne.

It is understood the man began to feel the symptoms on the eighth day of his trip.

The Victorian Government website describes the virus as having a “mortality of 20–50 per cent”.

“Among survivors, 30–50 per cent may still have significant neurological or psychiatric sequelae, even years after their acute illness,” the website says.

Symptoms of the virus include headache, fever, meningeal signs, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, generalised paresis, hypertonia and loss of co-ordination.

Shortly after returning home, the man began to suffer from headaches and confusion and would repeatedly fall asleep.

He was later admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he died in intensive care.

The disease cannot be transferred from person to person.

Doctor Steven Tong, who treated the man, said the chances of catching the virus were “vanishingly rare”.

“We don’t have Japanese encephalitis within Australia itself, so it has to be acquired during travel to areas of risk,” he told the ABC.

Mr Tong said there was a “one in a million chance” of contracting the virus.

The last known case of Japanese encephalitis in Australia was back in 2015 when a 45-year-old Victorian man contracted the virus after returning from Bali.

Australians travelling to South-East Asia are told to take precautions, including vaccination and the use of insect repellent.

The first ever recorded outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in Australia took place in the Torres Strait Islands in 1995, where the disease is still believed to be present.

The Smart Traveller website urges holiday-makers to take measures to avoid mosquito bites.

It recommends some travellers get vaccinated against the virus.