Two larvae of Aedes aegypti, the dengue mosquito, have been found at Darwin Airport following inspection of routine surveillance traps set by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Centre for Disease Control acting Director Medical Entomology Alexander Roberts said as a precaution the Department of Health is assisting the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources to set additional mosquito traps and undertake field surveys. 

“They will also treat potential breeding sites to ensure that it does not establish at the airport,” he said.  

“Enhanced surveillance activities for Aedes aegypti will continue at Darwin Airport for four weeks.”

The trap was collected on 5 October 2015 and the sample supplied to the Medical Entomology at the Department of Health on 6 October 2015. 

The mosquito that laid eggs in the trap most likely arrived in Darwin in the hold of a domestic flight from Queensland or international flight from South-East Asia between 21 and 28 September 2015.

Aedes aegypti is not established in the NT but is established in Queensland.

The Northern Territory has been free of widespread establishments of Aedes aegypti since the 1950s and has conducted three successful elimination programs to maintain a dengue-free Northern Territory :

•           Tennant Creek in 2004 to 2006

•           Groote Eylandt in 2006 to 2008

•           Tennant Creek 2011 to April 2014

On average 3 to 4 incursions of exotic mosquitoes are detected each year at Darwin’s international sea or air ports. There are no known populations of Aedes aegypti in the NT at the current time.

Media Contact:  Kirsty Reid – 08 8999 2818 or 0401 116 203