SOUTH KONA, Hawaii – Following Monday’s press conference in Captain Cook on the Hawaii Island dengue fever outbreak, the Hawaii Department of Health’s Maui County Health Officer, Dr. Lorrin Pang, shared his experiences with the mosquito-borne illness at home and abroad. Pang was asked to come to Hawaii Island by the health director to take a look at the situation because of his experiences with a dengue outbreak on Maui 15 years ago.

Pang talks about the human / mosquito relationship that is the main component of dengue, and talks about how other animals are not hosts, or reservoirs, of the disease. He relates his own experiences fighting dengue on Maui and explains why he thinks making observations on the ground and in the field is the best approach to handling the situation.

Courtesy the Hawaii Department of Health “Fight the Bite” campaign: