Latest news with #AdamKonrote
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific news in brief for 15 August
Solomon Islands - marine Community leaders from Vanuatu and Solomon Islands have committed to establish a transboundary marine protected area in their shared ocean space. The Solomon Star reported President of Torba Province, Edgar Haward, saying Torba was honored to host Temotu, its neighbor across national solwara borders. The proposed protected area aims to ensure total recovery of marine ecosystems, strengthen food and nutrition security, and open new opportunities for sustainable livelihoods. The provinces will seek support from the Melanesian Spearhead Group to advance the initiative. The formal legal declaration will be made at the PIF Leaders' Summit. American Samoa - dengue American Samoa is reporting a number of its cases of dengue fever are linked to recent travel to neighbouring Samoa. Territorial epidemiologist, Adam Konrote said as of 8 August, the territory reported 34 lab-confirmed cases. "Of these, 26 cases are travel-associated, primarily linked to recent travel to western Samoa," he said. "Eight cases have been confirmed to be locally acquired." Konrote said Tafuna is the village with the most confirmed cases. Samoa has reported nearly 8000 clinically diagnosed cases of the disease and six deaths. New Caledonia/Australia - travel Australia's government is advising travellers to New Caledonia to exercise "a high degree of caution". This comes more than a year after violence broke out in Noumea over a proposal by the French state to change voter eligibility. That proposal was eventually abandoned. Australia's 'smart traveller' site warns that there's still a high police and security presence in country, and isolated security incidents may occur across the territory. Tonga - election Tonga's parliament has wrapped up its session, ushering in a three-month campaign period for November's general election. Bills passed in the session included the Personal Health Information Protection Bill, and the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Bill. Parliament is set to reconvene in October to formally close the session before the election. Talanoa 'o Tonga reported many of the current members are expected to run.
RNZ News
09-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
American Samoa declares dengue outbreak
Photo: 123RF American Samoa's Department of Health has declared a dengue fever outbreak, with six confirmed cases. This follows the discovery of the disease last week in travelers returning to the territory. Territorial epidemiologist Adam Konrote told a press conference on Wednesday - streamed on the government-owned KVZK TV - that four of the confirmed cases were imported, but the two newest ones were locally acquired. "The two most recent cases had no travel history, confirming that dengue virus transmission is now happening within the community," he said. "This is a serious development and requires immediate coordinated action from both health authorities and the public." Dengue is not spread from person to person but through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Travellers returning from Fiji, Samoa or Tonga, which have previously declared outbreaks , are advised to monitor their health for up to 14 days for any symptoms of dengue. ASCC entomologist Dr Mark Schmaedick said there are 12 species of mosquito in American Samoa, but only two of them are known to carry dengue fever. "These are the black-and-white patterned mosquitoes that you see coming around to bite you in the day time. "Generally these species don't feed at night." Schmaedick said dengue-carrying mosquitoes tend to develop in habitats of water-holding containers, such as buckets, tyres and ice cream containers. He said they are not strong flyers and tend to stay close to where they hatched.
