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  [California Study Center]

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PITCAIRN ISLANDS STUDY CENTER, Pacific Union College, Angwin, California USA.

Herbert Ford, 559-592-0980, 559-732-0313.

PITCAIRN ISLAND KEEPING ITSELF DENGUE FREE, SAY AUTHORITIES

                        PITCAIRN ISLAND, SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN, February 13, 2014—This home of descendants of sailors of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame, and a new South Seas tourist destination, has been winning the fight to keep mosquito-caused dengue fever that has been plaguing other Pacific islands from its shores.

                        In a report received at the Pitcairn Islands Study Center in Angwin, Calif., on February 12, Pitcairn authorities say they "are taking all precautions to avoid the virus getting here."

                        At a meeting of the Pitcairn Island Council, suggestions for keeping the virus from reaching Pitcairn included taking drastic steps to reduce the island's mosquito population, which would include removing water catchments, extensive use of sprays, removal of brush and undergrowth, and removal of all receptacles that might harbor mosquitos.

                        "Most of our tourists and other visitors are coming here via Tahiti," explained the report, "and even one passenger in transit being bitten by the dengue mosquito and landing here, will be the end of Pitcairn as a dengue-free island - we plan to not let that happen."

                        According to the report, a new variation of dengue, called the zika fever, has erupted in Pacific islands in the last three months, but the most recent information the Pitcairners have received is that new fever cases have decreased in French Polynesia, the closest isles to Pitcairn.

                        Pitcairn is located some 1,200 miles from Papeete, Tahiti, which is an embarkation point for many visitors to the island.

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