Chairman Dru Kanuha called a special meeting of the County Council for 9 a.m. March 2 to receive an update from local and state officials about efforts to control the dengue fever outbreak on the Big Island. ADVERTISING Chairman Dru
Chairman Dru Kanuha called a special meeting of the County Council for 9 a.m. March 2 to receive an update from local and state officials about efforts to control the dengue fever outbreak on the Big Island.
The meeting in Hilo will be the second special dengue meeting the Council has called. The first was a three-hour session Dec. 2, when Council members were briefed by Dr. Ginny Pressler, director of the state Department of Health, physicians Sen. Josh Green and Rep. Richard Creagan, county Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira, and Aaron Ueno, Big Island district health officer for the DOH.
The meeting can be viewed via video stream at the West Hawaii Civic Center, Waimea council office, Kamehameha Park conference room, Naalehu state office building and the Pahoa neighborhood facility. Meetings also are streamed on the Web at the County Council website, www.hawaiicounty.gov/lb-council-home.
“We’re mainly seeking an update on what’s been going on for the last few months,” Kanuha, who represents Kona, said Tuesday. “It’s to help the community understand what’s happening, the progress that’s being made.”
No new dengue cases were reported Tuesday by the state Health Department. Only one of the confirmed cases to date is potentially infectious to mosquitoes. All others are no longer infectious.
Oliveira said he will be at the meeting to update council members about recent multiagency community outreach projects in Kailua-Kona, similar to those done in Milolii and Waipio Valley. He said Civil Defense, Community Emergency Response Teams and the Health Department went door to door, helping businesses, condo associations and the like educate residents and workers.
“It’s been a big outreach effort,” Oliveira said. “We wanted to make sure information is flowing into the community.”
Of the 259 confirmed dengue cases, 234 are Hawaii Island residents and 25 are visitors, 213 cases have been adults and 46 have been younger than 18 years old. Onset of illness has ranged between Sept. 11 and Feb. 13. A total of 1,298 reported potential cases were excluded based on test results or not meeting case criteria, according to the Health Department website.
Hilo councilman Aaron Chung, who requested the first dengue special session in December, said he’s glad Kanuha is calling for an update.
“It’s good that he’s trying to get more information,” Chung said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a better handle on how things are progressing.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
