{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T07:02:05Z","timestamp":1791615725813,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772064000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>During the 2024\/2025 wet season, Townsville had its first sustained autochthonous outbreak of dengue disease caused by dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2), the second locally transmitted outbreak of dengue since 2014 following the introduction of wMel strain Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, a control strategy for dengue virus (DENV) and other Aedes-transmitted arboviruses. In comparison to two recorded locally acquired cases of dengue in 2020, the 2024\/2025 outbreak resulted in sixteen cases in two inner-city suburbs of Townsville during the wet season associated with higher-than-average rainfall. This second dengue outbreak since 2014 highlights that Townsville and other north Queensland communities where Wolbachia mosquito programs have been deployed remain vulnerable to DENV incursions and local disease outbreaks despite the apparent high coverage of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. Whilst these control strategies have likely contributed to a reduction in the number and frequency of autochthonous DENV outbreaks in north Queensland, ongoing maintenance and monitoring of Wolbachia-infected mosquito coverage is necessary, together with timely review and improvement in dengue awareness and prevention health promotion activities in the community.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11030066","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T11:23:45Z","timestamp":1772105025000},"page":"66","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Locally Acquired Dengue in Townsville, Australia, 2024\u20132025: An Outbreak Report in a Non-Endemic Region with wMel Wolbachia-Infected Aedes aegypti"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Kyra","family":"Thompson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Townsville Public Health Unit, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, 242 Walker Street, Townsville City, QLD 4810, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scott","family":"Lyons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Townsville Public Health Unit, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, 242 Walker Street, Townsville City, QLD 4810, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katherine","family":"Malone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Townsville Public Health Unit, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, 242 Walker Street, Townsville City, QLD 4810, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9080-2223","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jesse","family":"Fryk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Townsville Public Health Unit, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, 242 Walker Street, Townsville City, QLD 4810, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3512-4321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alyssa","family":"Pyke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Virology, Public and Environmental Health Reference Laboratories, Coronial and Public Health Sciences, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kate","family":"Murton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Townsville Public Health Unit, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, 242 Walker Street, Townsville City, QLD 4810, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025, August 04). Data by Region, Available online: https:\/\/dbr.abs.gov.au\/."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Townsville City Council (2025, June 24). Water and the Dry Tropics, Available online: https:\/\/www.townsville.qld.gov.au\/water-waste-and-environment\/creek-to-coral\/water-and-the-dry-tropics."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Beebe, N.W., Cooper, R.D., Mottram, P., and Sweeney, A.W. (2009). Australia\u2019s dengue risk driven by human adaptation to climate change. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis., 3.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0000429"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.onehlt.2016.02.001","article-title":"Ten years of the Tiger: Aedes albopictus presence in Australia since its discovery in the Torres Strait in 2005","volume":"2","author":"Nicholson","year":"2016","journal-title":"One Health"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fox, T., Sguassero, Y., Chaplin, M., Rose, W., Doum, D., Arevalo-Rodriguez, I., and Villanueva, G. (2024). Wolbachia-carrying Aedes mosquitoes for preventing dengue infection. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., CD015636.","DOI":"10.1002\/14651858.CD015636.pub2"},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2009). Dengue Guidelines, for Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Control."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2177","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2030243","article-title":"Efficacy of Wolbachia-infected mosquito deployments for the control of dengue","volume":"384","author":"Utarini","year":"2021","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Australian Centre for Disease Control (2026, January 23). CDNA National Guidelines for Public Health Units, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov.au\/system\/files\/2025-09\/dengue-cdna-national-guidelines-for-public-health-units_0.pdf."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Queensland Health (2025, July 01). Dengue: Queensland Health Guidelines for Public Health Units, Available online: https:\/\/www.health.qld.gov.au\/cdcg\/index\/dengue."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1445-5994.2010.02196.x","article-title":"Dengue fever: Is it endemic in Australia?","volume":"40","author":"McBride","year":"2010","journal-title":"Intern. Med. J."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1071\/MA16056","article-title":"Dengue and the introduction of mosquito-transmitted viruses into Australia","volume":"37","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microbiol. Aust."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"taae014","DOI":"10.1093\/jtm\/taae014","article-title":"The epidemiology of imported and locally acquired dengue in Australia, 2012\u20132022","volume":"31","author":"Sohail","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Travel Med."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1547","DOI":"10.12688\/gatesopenres.13061.1","article-title":"Establishment of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and reduction of local dengue transmission in Cairns and surrounding locations in northern Queensland, Australia","volume":"3","author":"Ryan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Gates Open Res."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"(2025, September 22). World Mosquito Program. Australia. Available online: https:\/\/www.worldmosquitoprogram.org\/en\/global-progress\/australia."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10-1128","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.02923-20","article-title":"Wolbachia-conferred antiviral protection is determined by developmental temperature","volume":"12","author":"Chrostek","year":"2021","journal-title":"mBio"},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"36","article-title":"Scaled deployment of Wolbachia to protect the community from dengue and other Aedes transmitted arboviruses","volume":"2","author":"Ryan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Gates Open Res."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Queensland Health (2018). Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Queensland, 1 July 2012\u201330 June 2017."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1071\/MA18027","article-title":"The origins of dengue outbreaks in northern Queensland, Australia, 1990\u20132017","volume":"39","author":"Pyke","year":"2018","journal-title":"Microbiol. Aust."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Bureau of Meteorology (2025, July 24). Climate Data Online, Available online: http:\/\/www.bom.gov.au\/climate\/data\/index.shtml?bookmark=200."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pyke, A.T., Gunn, W., Taylor, C., Mackay, I.M., McMahon, J., Jelley, L., Waite, B., and May, F. (2018). On the Home Front: Specialised Reference Testing for Dengue in the Australasian Region. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis., 3.","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed3030075"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3059","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkf436","article-title":"MAFFT: A novel method for rapid multiple sequence alignment based on fast Fourier transform","volume":"30","author":"Katoh","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wong, T.K.F., Ly-Trong, N., Ren, H., Ba\u00f1os, H., Roger, A.J., Susko, E., Bielow, C., De Maio, N., Goldman, N., and Hahn, M.W. (2025). IQ-TREE 3: Phylogenomic Inference Software using Complex Evolutionary Models. EcoEvoRxiv.","DOI":"10.32942\/X2P62N"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-019-3666-6","article-title":"Detecting wMel Wolbachia in field-collected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)","volume":"12","author":"Hooker","year":"2019","journal-title":"Parasites Vectors"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hempenstall, A., Pyke, A., Taunton, C., Sabatino, U., Kaigey, S., Pickering, E., Ehlers, G., Muzari, M.O., Davis, J., and Paton, C. (2024). An outbreak of dengue virus type 3 on Mer Island in the Torres Strait, Australia in 2024. Commun. Dis. Intell., 48.","DOI":"10.33321\/cdi.2024.48.63"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Choi, Y., Tang, C.S., McIver, L., Hashizume, M., Chan, V., Abeyasinghe, R.R., Iddings, S., and Huy, R. (2016). Effects of weather factors on dengue fever incidence and implications for interventions in Cambodia. BMC Public Health, 16.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-016-2923-2"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0025021","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.00250-21","article-title":"High Temperature Cycles Result in Maternal Transmission and Dengue Infection Differences Between Wolbachia Strains in Aedes aegypti","volume":"12","author":"Mancini","year":"2021","journal-title":"mBio"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ross, P.A., Axford, J.K., Yang, Q., Staunton, K.M., Ritchie, S.A., Richardson, K.M., and Hoffmann, A.A. (2020). Heatwaves cause fluctuations in wMel Wolbachia densities and frequencies in Aedes aegypti. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis., 14.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0007958"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actatropica.2010.05.012","article-title":"Beyond the \u2018back yard\u2019: Lay knowledge about Aedes aegypti in northern Australia and its implications for policy and practice","volume":"116","author":"McNaughton","year":"2010","journal-title":"Acta Trop."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e20069","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2023.e20069","article-title":"Asymptomatic dengue infection rate: A systematic literature review","volume":"9","author":"Bouscaren","year":"2023","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"ref_30","first-page":"100006","article-title":"The impact of environmental and host factors on wolbachia density and efficacy as a biological tool","volume":"1","author":"Padde","year":"2023","journal-title":"Decod. Infect. Transm."}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/3\/66\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T11:54:39Z","timestamp":1772106879000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/3\/66"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed11030066"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed11030066","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-6366","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]]}}}