They should have done enough to anticipate it,'' one medical expert said. World Health Organisation officials say dengue fever is one of several old diseases recurring in parts of Asia. It is often diagnosed as ordinary flu, as both conditions are characterised by high fever. Other symptoms include runny nose, lower abdominal pain, nosebleeds and skin rashes. If dengue fever is left untreated, it can be fatal.
Medical experts say blood tests are still the most effective means of diagnosis.
The aedes aegypti mosquito, whose origins have been traced to Egypt, first came to the region through the Philippines. WHO says dengue haemorrhagic fever was detected there in 1953. Dengue fever was reported in Indonesia, through Surabaya in 1968. In the seventies it began showing up in Jakarta and Bandung to the south-east of the capital and other parts of the country.