Dengue is raging in the Pacific: in recent months, extreme precipitation, coupled with serious droughts, have exploded the epidemic through the region. The Samoa, Fiji and Tonga are among the most affected countries, specifies The Guardian.
Since the beginning of 2025, there have been no less than 16,502 confirmed cases and 17 deaths, according to data from the Pacific Sytromic Surveillance System (PSSS), which has collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies. This corresponds to the highest level of infection recorded since 2016, and has pushed several territories to declare the state of emergency.
Towards sustainability
According to Paula Vivili, Deputy Director General of the Pacific Community (CPS), these epidemics, which have so far been seasonal, will be brought to multiply and perpetuate: “Due to climate change, the transmission seasons lie down and certain regions are exposed to a risk of dengue throughout the year.”
Integration of temperatures, intense precipitation and increased humidity form a combination of favorable to the proliferation of mosquitoes, and in particular those of the genus Aedes, carrier of the disease, which causes a strong fever, violent headache, joint and muscular pain, rashes. In the most serious cases, dengue can lead to death.
According to the intergovernmental group of experts in climate development (IPCC), the Pacific island countries produce only 0.03% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but are faced with some of the most serious health threats, including vector transmission diseases.
According to forecasts from the New Zealand National Institute for Water Research and the Atmosphere (NIWA), the extreme climatic conditions that the Pacific is currently experiencing should continue until October, which will promote the transmission of diseases by mosquitoes.
The affected countries therefore try to limit damage, by conducting cleaning and spraying operations of targeted insecticides or by organizing prevention campaigns. But for Bobby Reiner, doctor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington, “Current disease surveillance systems are rarely sufficient to manage dengue, as evidenced by the continuous growth of the disease in the region, and more generally worldwide”.