A container mosquito that lives with people
The council's public health page notes that Aedes aegypti has been recorded in both Gin Gin and Childers. It lives and breeds around people and buildings, and it bites during the day.
What the council has recorded inland
Bundaberg Regional Council's public health page carries the record in one sentence: Aedes aegypti has been recorded in both Gin Gin and Childers. The same page says the mosquito can pass on dengue fever, but only after biting someone who currently has the disease.
The household routine the council asks for is weekly: every week, empty, dry and clean anything that can hold water, or store them under cover, or dispose of them as appropriate. Fill pot plant bases with sand, the council says, so mosquitoes cannot breed in them.
The page also draws a line worth keeping between two kinds of mosquito: some types spread disease to people and animals, while others only bother them. In Queensland the mosquito-borne diseases seen most often are Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses.
A yard matters beyond the people in it. The council notes that some mosquitoes breeding around a house and yard can give a dog heart worm, so stopping mosquitoes from breeding protects a family and its pets.
The illness the mosquito can carry
Queensland Health describes dengue fever as a viral disease spread only by certain mosquitoes, mostly Aedes aegypti, which the department calls the dengue mosquito and which are common in tropical areas around the world. Towns in north and central Queensland that have Aedes aegypti are prone to outbreaks when the virus is brought in by travellers.
Dengue itself does not spread directly from person to person. The mosquito is not born with the virus: it takes it up by biting a sick person who has the dengue virus in their blood, and can pass it on to another person after about a week.
Between outbreaks, Australia is free of dengue fever, and Queensland Health says continuous efforts to control the mosquitoes are needed to keep it that way. Local Aedes aegypti are not normally infected, unless they have bitten a person sick with dengue.
There are four types of dengue virus, and after an infection a person is immune only to that particular type. A further infection with a different type has a higher chance of severe or complicated dengue.
The mosquito and the illness, side by side
Two things are being described when a case of dengue is reported: the mosquito, and the illness it can pass on. Set side by side, the difference is easier to hold.
| The dengue mosquito (Aedes aegypti) | Dengue fever | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An Aedes aegypti mosquito, common in tropical areas around the world, which Queensland Health calls the dengue mosquito. | A viral disease spread only by certain mosquitoes, mostly Aedes aegypti. |
| Where it is found | Only around humans and buildings, and not in bush or rural areas. | In towns in north and central Queensland that have Aedes aegypti, when the virus is brought in by travellers. |
| How it passes to a person | It is not born with the virus; it takes it up from a sick person it bites, and can pass it on after about a week. | It does not spread directly from person to person. |
| Where a household meets it | In anything that holds water at home, from pot plant bases and buckets to blocked gutters and even palm fronds. | Between outbreaks, Australia is free of it, and continuous mosquito control is needed to keep it that way. |
The weekly round of a yard
Queensland Health's instruction is direct: dengue mosquitoes are different to bush or swamp mosquitoes because they breed in containers and junk, so remove all breeding sites around your home and workplace.
Its page sets a rhythm for it: check in and around your home every week, clean out roof gutters, and empty and scrub out containers, storing them in a dry place or throwing them away.
The list of what counts as a breeding site is longer than most yards expect. Pot plant bases, buckets, tarpaulins, tyres, vases, coconut shells, blocked gutters and even palm fronds hold enough water. A neglected rainwater tank, boat, tub or pool can breed thousands of dengue mosquitoes.
For the biting hours, the department's own advice is to use plug-in mosquito repellent devices inside and coils outside, and insect repellent containing DEET (diethyl toluamide) or picaridin, reapplied according to the label. The council's page adds a line for families: repellents with picaridin, or with under 10 per cent DEET, are regarded as safe for children, while tropical repellents are not recommended for babies under three months old.
If someone becomes sick
Queensland Health's page carries one sentence for this, and it is worth taking as written: “See a doctor immediately if you or anyone in your family have symptoms of dengue.”
People get sick 3 to 14 days after a bite from an infected mosquito, and the illness lasts up to a week. In some cases the fever and possibly worse symptoms return for another two to three days.
Dengue ranges from mild or unnoticed, more often in children, to severe or even fatal cases. Complications include shock and haemorrhage, and some people need urgent hospital treatment for them, though deaths are rare in Australia.
If dengue is confirmed, the page says your local council and Queensland Health can stop it spreading further in your neighbourhood, using traps, insecticide house sprays and a non-toxic product in water that stops mosquito larvae developing.
Queensland Health's health advice line is 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84), answered at any hour for the cost of a local call, and queries or complaints about local mosquito control go to your local council.
The short of it
One mosquito, two towns, and a habit that is easy to describe: it breeds in what people leave outside. It does not come in from the bush, because it does not live there.