In late August 2014, three autochthonous dengue cases were reported in Japan. Since then, as of 17 September 2014, a total of 131 autochthonous cases have been confirmed. While cases were reported from throughout Japan, the majority were linked to visiting a large park or its vicinity in Tokyo, and the serotype detected has been serotype 1. We report preliminary findings, along with the public health response activities, of the first documented autochthonous dengue outbreak in Japan in nearly 70 years.Dengue is an acute, mosquito-borne febrile illness caused by a flavivirus found widely in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in South-East Asia. While the most competent mosquito species for dengue virus transmission is believed to be Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus is also a competent vector present in much of Japan during the warmer months. Infection with dengue virus may cause fever, headache, muscle pain and/or rash but may also be mild or asymptomatic. While there is no specific treatment, with early and appropriate medical care, the likelihood of infections resulting in severe forms or death is rare. In Japan, dengue has been a notifiable disease since April 1999. Physicians are required to report demographic, clinical and exposure history information of laboratory-confirmed cases to the local public health centre that are then reported to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).

Nusa Tengara Barat (NTB) province consists of two main islands, Lombok and Sumbawa, to the east of Bali Island, Indonesia. Most of the area is known to be moderately malaria endemic, but the exact malaria epidemiology has not been elucidated. At least 30 deaths per year are thought to be caused by falciparum malaria in Lombok alone, judging from the hospital data. According to the Gebrak Malaria Team in West Lombok, the annual incidence in the district of West Lombok from 1996 to 1999 was consistently over 40‰.
In the present report, we describe the small malaria endemic foci in the West Lombok and Sumbawa districts. Falciparum malaria is predominant over vivax malaria and other types of malaria. There are 11 species of Anopheles vector, but three of these species, An. subpictus, An. maculates and An. barbirostris, are of primary importance in malaria transmission and An. sundaicus and An. aconitus are of secondary importance. Our data from Sekotong, West Lombok, and Sumbawa supported the importance of An. subpictus in coastal areas but suggested the existence of different transmission peaks according to environmental conditions. The usual transmission peak comes in the dry season but is affected by climatic and geographical conditions. Although there were many malaria endemic foci along the coast, the width and grade of the foci varied widely. The presence of malaria endemic foci inland, although likely, has not been definitively reported to date.