In:

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Authors:

José G. Derraik, David Slaney

There has never been a confirmed indigenously acquired case of mosquito-borne disease in humans in New Zealand.1 It has been proposed that it is just a matter of time before such an outbreak occurs,2 particularly in light of the increased connectivity and movement of people and pathogens around the globe.
In the past few years, the emergence of Chikungunya virus is posing a threat to public health in NZ.3 This risk has increased with the Chikungunya outbreaks in New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea,4 and more recently in Tonga,5 Samoa, American Samoa,6 French Polynesia,7 and Tokelau Islands (a NZ territory).8 Recent outbreaks of Zika virus disease (family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) in the South Pacific9,10 and associated imported cases to NZ raise concerns about the likelihood of this virus reaching NZ.

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