By Samoa News staffPago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 2-year-old boy died just days after his 9-year-old brother, the fifth recent death from the disease at the Pacific island nation, all of whom have been children.
A family member paid tribute on social media, with the boy's aunt posting the word “Aisea?” - Why?
Samoa has been battling a rising occurrence of the disease since April, with over 2000 cases recorded.
The Samoa Observer is reporting that the government has extended the closure of schools for another week to address the increasing number of cases.
Dengue cases in the Pacific have reached their highest level in almost a decade, with many cases also in American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
As of Sunday, 3rd August 2025, a total of 5,670 clinically diagnosed cases have been recorded in Samoa since January this year, of which 2,619 are laboratory confirmed cases.
In just the past week, 1,446 new clinically diagnosed cases have been reported across Upolu and Savai’i, including 342 new lab confirmed cases.
To date, there have been four confirmed and one probable dengue related death.
Some 115 patients were hospitalized with 64 discharged and 51 still receiving care. No cases have required ICU care at this stage.
The government, through the National Emergency Operations Centre, continues to lead a whole of government response to this outbreak.
This includes;
• Fumigation across villages, schools, workplaces and public places;
• Fumigation of 225 schools in Upolu and Manono and 97 schools in Savai’i, as well as the National University of Samoa, the University of the South Pacific and Tesese Institute;
• Re-fumigation of all district hospitals in Upolu and Manono Island;
• Targeted operations in high-risk areas such as Saleimoa, Nuu Fou, Vaitele Uta , Vailele Fou, Vailele and Toamua;
• A blood drive, led by the Samoa Red Cross Society partnership with the Ministry of Health continues;
• Ongoing clean-up of waterways, led by the Drainage Committee;
• National bulky waste collection, scheduled for the 13th, 20th and 27th August;
• Household inspections in more than 2,045 homes have been conducted through the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development’s Aiga Manuia Nuu Manuia initiative.
These inspections confirmed that poor waste disposal practices, stagnant water and overgrown vegetation are major contributors to heightened mosquito breeding places. Cleanliness is everyone’s responsibility as it has part of our lives as Samoans. I urge families, villages all of us to take every necessary action to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.
At the same time, we should enhance measures to protect our families and loved ones by wearing protective clothing and use mosquito repellents, use mosquito nets, especially for children and the elderly, seek immediate medication attention for dengue symptoms, and avoid resorting to traditional healing (fofo Samoa) for dengue.
The situation has led Health NZ to warn travelers to the Pacific to take precautions.
While you cannot catch dengue from another person, you can get it from infected mosquitoes in an area or region with dengue.
Dr Susan Jack, Health NZ’s National Clinical Director for National Public Health Service, said that in Auckland, public health teams have experienced a recent surge in cases among people returning to Aotearoa after picking up the illness overseas.
“There were 34 confirmed cases of dengue reported in Auckland in July among people coming back into New Zealand – with approximately half acquired in Samoa – compared with just five cases at the same time in 2024,” she said.
In the first seven months of 2025, there have been 103 cases of dengue recorded in Auckland, double the amount recorded for all of 2024.
“This is why it's important that people living in New Zealand who are travelling to these areas where dengue is widespread take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and follow local public health advice,” Jack said.
She added that if you travel to an area with dengue, it is important to protect yourself by sleeping under mosquito nets, keeping windows and doors closed, wearing insect repellent, and avoiding places where mosquitoes are most active, such as swampy areas.
Although most people who get dengue do not develop symptoms, those that do can experience a high fever, intense headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and a fine rash.
Section: RegionalTags: dengue FEVER
View the discussion thread.