A dengue fever outbreak in Malang regency, East Java, has killed five people over the past three months, local health authorities said Friday.
The five fatalities were part of the 550 people infected by the dengue virus during that period, said the head of the Malang Health Office for communicable disease prevention, Mulyatim Koeswo.
Out of the 550 infected people, 382 were infected in January, he said.
"Dengue fever attacks residents in eight subdistricts of the regency every year," Koeswo told Antara state news agency.
East Java is one of the most vulnerable provinces in Indonesia. During this year's rainy season, dengue fever has also killed four residents from Mojokerto, East Java.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that bites by infected female Aedes Aegypti
mosquitoes can transmit the dengue virus to human beings.
The WHO estimated that some 2.5 billion people were at risk from dengue and that 50 million people worldwide were diagnosed with dengue every year.
In addition to dengue fever, about 700 people in Malang had also suffered from Chikungunya, a viral disease, caused by the Alphavirus virus, which is also spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, he said.
Both dengue fever and Chikungunya hit locals during the rainy season in-line with the breeding season of the Aedes mosquitoes, he said.
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