Murray Valley encephalitis detected in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek mosquitoes

A potentially fatal disease has been detected in mosquitoes in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. Find out what the medical experts have advised for Territory residents to stay safe.

Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) has been detected in mosquitoes in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, prompting calls from medical experts to cover up and use insect repellents when near bodies of water.

NT Health Medical entomology director Nina Kurucz said MVE was detected in mosquitoes in Tennant Creek in Darwin in February, with MVE detected in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek again at the end of March.

She said MVE was a viral disease that could be transmitted from mosquitoes to humans, it was potentially fatal and had no known treatment or vaccination.

The virus has only been recorded in 39 cases since 1974, although several of those cases resulted in fatalities.

Medical entomologist Nina Kurucz is warning Territorians to cover-up with Murray Valley encephalitis detected in mosquito samples in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs in late March.

Symptoms include headaches, high fever, nausea, vomiting and muscle aches which can process to drowsiness, confusion, seizure and fits, and in severe cases delirium and can appear between five and 28 days after being bitten.

Ms Kurucz said the latest case of the disease was in Darwin earlier this year, which ended in the person dying from the disease, with the last case in Alice Springs in 2004 also resulting in a fatality.

She said mosquitoes carrying the disease were most active just after sunset, early in the morning, at night and after heavy rains.

Ms Kurucz said recent flooding and high rain had created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes.

“There is still a risk until all water bodies dry up, so we are letting people know that the virus is out there and can be fatal, and has been fatal in some cases,” she said.

“Even if people recover, in a lot of cases they don’t recover fully.

“They have severe impairments and can’t look after themselves because of inflammation of the brain. “Unfortunately in the past there were quite a few young children in the Barkly region as well.”

She said the best way to prevent contracting the disease was to cover up and stay away from areas where there was known mosquito activity at night, such as swamps or wetlands.

She also encouraged using mosquito coils and insect repellent, as well as wearing long shirts and pants and making sure tents were secure when camping.

“We are currently still in a high risk period until June or July,” she said.