Widow of man killed by Murray Valley encephalitis warns of mosquito bite danger
Travelling from Tom Price, 1,450 kilometres north-east of Perth, to the Kimberley two years ago, her husband, Peter, contracted a rare mosquito-borne illness.
"We returned home and, within a week of that, he started showing symptoms, which I thought at the beginning was a stroke," she said.
Peter Blackaby had contracted Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), a rare but serious mosquito-borne disease that can cause brain inflammation, coma and death.
There is no treatment or vaccine for it.
Mr Blackaby was flown to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment, but his condition worsened in the following hours.
"He went from showing signs [of life] to being in a coma, non-verbal, unresponsive, quadriplegic, and basically in a vegetative state," Ms Blackaby said.
Ms Blackaby's story struck a chord with the West Australian government, which is now offering free insect repellent kits to community groups in areas deemed at high risk of a mosquito-borne illness.
"So sporting clubs, caravan parks, other places in the community will always have insect repellent available," WA Health Minister Meredith Hammat said.
"There were 12 cases of Murray Valley encephalitis reported since 2023, and five of those have resulted in deaths.
"It is serious."
Part of the reason Ms Blackaby is speaking out now is that she does not think the existing messaging about mosquito-borne illnesses is cutting through.
For years, the government has backed a campaign called "Fight the Bite".
But Ms Blackaby said most people she talked to had not heard of MVE.
"I still travel with my caravan and I make it my public duty to talk to people and ask if they've heard of MVE," she said.
"If I can stop one family from going through what my family went through, it's worth it."
The initiative comes as Kimberley residents report increased mosquito activity following recent unseasonal rains.
Mosquito traps detected MVE in the West Kimberley earlier this month.
Broome resident Robyn Maher said the mosquitoes were "out in force".
"On this morning's walk through Minyirr I had a black T-shirt on, and my husband said, 'Your whole back is covered in mosquitoes,'" she said.
Ms Maher said free mosquito repellent was a "really good idea".
"It's ridiculously expensive. Not everyone can afford food, let alone a can of Aerogard, so that's a really good initiative," she said.
Ms Blackaby said everyone living in high-risk mosquito regions like the Pilbara and Kimberley should be applying insect repellent as part of their daily routine.
"It just has to become ingrained a bit like 'slip, slop, slap' with sunscreen," she said.
"It needs to become something that we're just aware of on the regular, not just a news article that pops up every now and again."
The government said it was planning a statewide rollout of the initiative next year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
10 hours ago
- ABC News
WA public hospitals reschedule elective surgeries after surge in demand
A number of planned elective surgeries have been put on hold in Western Australia due to a significant surge in demand on hospital emergency departments. In response to questions from the ABC, Health director general Dr Shirley Bowen said a high volume of patient presentations to WA's public hospitals overnight on Monday into Tuesday caused the surge. As a result, a number non-urgent surgeries planned for Wednesday in the metro area have been rescheduled. The postponement of elective surgeries is a strategy used by health authorities when the system is under pressure. In November 2021, widespread cancellations of non-urgent surgery across WA occurred during a strain on resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Bowen said that was to ensure access to emergency healthcare for the rest of the week and impacted patients would be notified by their treating hospital. "To ensure access to emergency healthcare for Western Australians for the remainder of the week, WA Health is proactively rescheduling some non-urgent surgeries in the metropolitan area," Dr Bowen said. "We continue to prioritise our most seriously ill and injured patients. Dr Bowen acknowledged that the rescheduling might be "inconvenient and difficult for some patients". "We are committed to ensuring patients' surgery is re-scheduled as soon as possible."
West Australian
12 hours ago
- West Australian
WA Health put elective surgery on hold across Perth as demand and ramping exploded to a new daily record
The West Australian exclusive WA Health put elective surgery on hold across Perth as demand and ramping exploded to a new daily record
ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
WA government to ban mobile phones from childcare centres after review into industry
Mobile phones will be banned in Western Australia childcare centres and more money provided for safety checks after a snap one-month review into the state's sector found compliance issues are on the rise. The review was ordered by Early Childhood and Education Minister Sabine Winton last month following reports a Melbourne childcare worker had been charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault and producing child abuse material Ms Winton confirmed on Tuesday the state government would move to ban all personal devices in centres across WA, including those that have a camera, like smart watches and iPads, "as fast as [it] can". "This move is in line with strong responses from states such as South Australia and Victoria, and recognises that these devices can pose a risk to the safety of children," she said. "I need to work with the union and our sector partners to make sure that there are no unintended consequences." She said "reasonable adjustments" could be made for workers who have caring responsibilities and might require access to a device. "We as parents need to know that children are safe in those settings and that is my number one priority through this work I've done," she said. "I need to not only assure parents right across Western Australia that child safety is the government's number one priority, but it's the number one priority of our sector partners, and that's why I called the snap review." The review was conducted by the state's Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU), the body which overseas and applies regulations in WA's childcare sector. This was in addition to The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority's (ACECQA) review of child safety arrangements under the National Quality Framework. Authorities made five recommendations following the WA probe. These include increasing training for early childhood educators, requiring providers to improve their approach to child safety and to urgently progress the Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill 2025 through parliament. Ms Winton said in addition to supporting all the recommendations "subject to ongoing national and state work", the government will inject $1.1 million to bolster the capacity of ECRU for compliance checks at centres. "It's a 10 per cent uplift in the total cost that ECRU have right now, and so I'm very confident that this is immediate funding that ECRU can have to step up the important role that they play," she said. The report however found compliance issues have increased in the past year in WA's early childcare services — up 14 per cent in 2024-25 from the previous financial year, which it suggests is likely a result of growth in the number of services operating. "There are actually now more services in place than there ever have been … when you get more compliance notifications, it actually means ECRU are doing their job, and I don't apologise for that," Ms Winton said. United Worker's Union WA branch secretary Carolyn Smith described the ban on mobile phones from the workplace as a "measured and sensible" response. "Unfortunately we know that personal devices have been involved in some of the really, really awful things we've seen in the last few months in early education," she said. "Many providers already have that ban. Ms Smith said the additional funding from the state government was also welcome. "We absolutely welcome extra money to the regulator," she said. "We need the regulator out in centres checking that centres are doing the right things and holding them to account." Opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Liam Staltari said he welcomed review's findings. "We will support any measure that makes our centres safer, makes our children safer, gives confidence to parents and gives respect and certainty to the amazing childcare workers and educators who give their all every day," he said. "We did note with some concern, the review shows that WA lags the national average for the proportion of centres that meet the national quality standard benchmark. "We'll work in support of any measures that lift that because again, all sides of politics can work together to make our centres safer." Ms Winton also signed off on — along with all other Australian education ministers — stronger, mandatory child safety measures back in June. The changes, which come into effect from September, include mandatory 24-hour reporting of any allegations, complaints or incidents of physical or sexual abuse, as well as stronger protections around digital technology use.
