8 Dec 2017

Ahead of dengue season, Cooks begin mass cleaning campaign

5:18 pm on 8 December 2017

The Cook Islands ministry of health is inspecting houses to eliminate mosquito breeding areas.

Mosquito borne diseases Dengue fever and chikungunya are uncommon in the Cooks, and the National Mass Cleaning campaign aims to keep it that way.

The campaign happens twice a year in July and December and each inspection runs for ten days.

The acting manager of public health inspectors Charlie Ave says controlling what comes into cooks is the main concern.

"The Cook Islands is in the middle of the Pacific surrounded by countries which they have this problem, but for the Cook Island we don't have, that's why we want this programme to maintain it because we found out this is one of the best method," he said.