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Speaker 1: We know that territorians and visitors are being reminded to

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Speaker 1: protect themselves against mosquitos ahead of the Easter break. With

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Speaker 1: the recent wet weather leading to a spike in massie numbers,

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Speaker 1: people are at greater risk of catching serious mosquito born

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Speaker 1: diseases like Murray Valley and cephalitis, Japanese in kephalitis. And

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Speaker 1: that's from now until about June, is my understanding. But

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Speaker 1: joining us on the line to tell us more about

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Speaker 1: what we can do to make sure that we protect

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Speaker 1: ourselves and a bit more about some of the concerns

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Speaker 1: is the Center for Disease Controls Public Health Unit, Exotic

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Speaker 1: Vector Surveillance Entomologist Bill Pettitt.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Bill, Good morning Katie. How are

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Speaker 2: you very well?

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Speaker 1: Bill? That title is quite a mouthful, mate.

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Speaker 2: They're the ones we want to keep out of the MT.

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Speaker 2: I can talk about the ones we've already got here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and Bill, it's a busy job, no doubt

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Speaker 1: for you. Tell us a bit more about, you know,

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Speaker 1: some of the some of the concerns. I guess as

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Speaker 1: we head into to Easter, the the.

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Speaker 2: Concern is we've got mobile population around Easter, and people

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Speaker 2: take off and the fall drives and fishes are out

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Speaker 2: and the campers are out, and our mazzi's are out,

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Speaker 2: and mozzi's bite wildlife. So the mozzis that we've got

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Speaker 2: around the floodplains and around the around the and the

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Speaker 2: inland areas. Now there's so much water down through the

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Speaker 2: inland that mozzi numbers are high. They're biting barsupules like

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Speaker 2: kangaroos and wallabies, and those mosquitoes can bite humans and

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Speaker 2: transmit virus. They can also bite water birds and transmit

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Speaker 2: other viruses out of water birds and transmit them to humans.

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Speaker 2: And some of those viruses can cause really debilitating illness

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Speaker 2: in humans. We're accidental hopes for most of them, but

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Speaker 2: the illnesses are very, very severe.

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Speaker 1: But what are the viruses that are all the biggest

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Speaker 1: concerns in the territory at the moment?

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Speaker 2: Our common one, our most common one is the endemic one,

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Speaker 2: which is roster of avirus, And on average we're getting

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Speaker 2: somewhere between like two hundred, two hundred and fifty cases

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Speaker 2: a year in a population it's only two hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty thousand people, So it makes us a hot spot

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Speaker 2: for roster of avirus in Australia. But one is the

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Speaker 2: number of hot spots. But that can cause although it's

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Speaker 2: not a fatal disease, that can cause developabilitating pain through

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Speaker 2: joints well and joints, arthritics, feelings, also lack of energy

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Speaker 2: like a chronic fatigue style symptom and not for everybody.

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Speaker 2: Some kids get as a sniffle like a twenty four

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Speaker 2: hour virus, and some adults can have it symptomatically for

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Speaker 2: six months. After six months, it's just one of those

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Speaker 2: things that once you've got it, you follow the course

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Speaker 2: of illness. If you don't get it in the first place,

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Speaker 2: by self protecting with repellent and not getting bitten in

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Speaker 2: the first place, it's a much better way.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so Bill tell me, obviously roster of a

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Speaker 1: virus is one that is a big concern. Then we've

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Speaker 1: also got things like Murray Valley in caphalitis and Japanese

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Speaker 1: in cavalitis. Is that correct?

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Speaker 2: It's true they're much rarer diseases but much more important

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Speaker 2: in terms of illness that you can that Murray Valley

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Speaker 2: caf lighters is endemic to the top end of Australia,

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Speaker 2: but last year we saw a spread not only through

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Speaker 2: the NT but down into some lower states. But we

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Speaker 2: had eight cases of human human cases with Murray valiant

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Speaker 2: caf lighters through the NT last year, including three through

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Speaker 2: the Barkley number in the top end, and they're normally

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Speaker 2: on average is one or two per year. The last

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Speaker 2: year was a big year for murray may valiant caflitis

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Speaker 2: and on average of four people that get it, you

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Speaker 2: can have a death one in four and pass away

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Speaker 2: two and four and have life long symptoms, lasting symptoms,

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Speaker 2: and another one in four con survive and recover completely normally.

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Speaker 2: But that the viruses of birds, they come out of

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Speaker 2: bird life, come through mosquitoes, come into humans, and humans

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Speaker 2: are dead end host. But it finishes in humans as

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Speaker 2: far as transmissions, and mosquita can't bite a human affected

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Speaker 2: with those diseases and pass it on to another.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, and so how many, like I guess you know,

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Speaker 1: how many of these cases of mosquito born diseases in

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Speaker 1: humans have we seen in the past year or so?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Murray valan caphilias if it hasn't yet this season

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Speaker 2: been seen in humans. We've got surveillance in our in

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Speaker 2: Western Australia. They've picked up Maryvale and kept lighters in

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Speaker 2: some mosquito surveillance in the Kimberley, So we know circulating

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Speaker 2: and so presumably then certain birds, bird flocks do have

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Speaker 2: it at the moment, and as I said, that's pretty

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Speaker 2: continuous with but there's migratory birds. But at this time

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Speaker 2: of year, we've got water going right from the Kimberley

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Speaker 2: right down through central Australia with the cyclone, the newly

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Speaker 2: to the graded cyclone Megan. Yep, we've we've we've got

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Speaker 2: the possibility of transmission and movement of bird flocks and

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Speaker 2: the availability of this virus human.

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Speaker 1: What's going to ask that, I mean, do we see

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Speaker 1: sort of an increase in mosquito born diseases as a

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Speaker 1: result of that weather that we've had, you know, things

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Speaker 1: like tropical Cyclone Megan just a little while ago. But

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Speaker 1: you know a lot of a lot of extra rain

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Speaker 1: around the place.

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Speaker 2: That's true and really been typical of the last three

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Speaker 2: and a half years. We've had three laine years in

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Speaker 2: a row, and we had huge amounts of rain through

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Speaker 2: the interior, and we had in one year we had

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Speaker 2: the unique Japanese and kept Ltis outbreak which was across

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Speaker 2: multiple states and forty one human cases. And that was

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Speaker 2: a new viral illness in Australia. That j had been

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Speaker 2: recorded up in the Torres Strait Islands before then, but

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Speaker 2: in mainland southern Southern State. That was the first for

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Speaker 2: je and Marizali and kep Ltis. As I said, it

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Speaker 2: was in larger numbers last year than it had been

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Speaker 2: in other years. So the wet conditions make it right

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Speaker 2: for bird migration, marsupial population increases and mosquitoes and the

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Speaker 2: combination of all of those mean that there's much more

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Speaker 2: likelihood of transmission of these viruses to humans.

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Speaker 1: So Bill, what is the advice for Territorians as we

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Speaker 1: head into an east a long weekend. I'm assuming it

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Speaker 1: is it's where you're insect repellent and cover up.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and there's option. There's options for insect repellent now,

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Speaker 2: more than we've ever had before. We've got the normal beat,

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Speaker 2: the typical air reguard, and the can and the bushmen's.

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Speaker 2: We've got the carrot and based lotions. These are all

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Speaker 2: in coals and woolworth and chemists. Yep, there's a newer

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Speaker 2: one that smells of lemon, eucalyptus and it's a very

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Speaker 2: effective repellent. It's extractors Lemon eucalyptus or p MD and

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Speaker 2: it's sold as Bushmen's Naturals or air Regard Naturals and

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Speaker 2: coals and wood. We've also got fabric repellent. Air Reguard

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Speaker 2: makes for a repellent you can apply to fabric instead

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Speaker 2: of the skin. Right, I recommend putting on the putting

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Speaker 2: the lotions on the skin and using the fabric repellent.

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Speaker 2: But it is something you can apply to the doors

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Speaker 2: of tents, tent material things, especially if you're camping and

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Speaker 2: when you gooda mosquitos and you run for the tent

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Speaker 2: and maybe they follow you inside, you've already sprayed the

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Speaker 2: doors of the tent.

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Speaker 1: You have to make a big difference before I let

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Speaker 1: you go. Bill, is there I mean, are certain age

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Speaker 1: groups more susceptible to these different types of mosquito born

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Speaker 1: illnesses or can it really be anybody that picks these up?

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Speaker 2: Anybody can pick them up, but there are You're right,

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Speaker 2: the very young are receptible, but anyone can get these viruses,

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Speaker 2: and you can get it on the first mosquito bite.

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Speaker 2: So even to the people that say I don't get

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Speaker 2: bitten by mosquitos. Really, everybody gets bitten by mosquitoes, and

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Speaker 2: some just get bit more So, the general message to

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Speaker 2: everyone is to avoid mosquito bites. It's not just about

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Speaker 2: avoiding being itchy, it's about avoiding serious illness.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, good advice, Bill Pettitt, It is lovely to

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Speaker 1: speak to you this morning. I really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on the show.

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Speaker 2: No, that's fight Katie anytime.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. Thanks Bill,