Communicable disease in the South Pacific Islands, 1.

An outline is given of the pattern of communicable disease in the South Pacific, as far as it is known. Surveillance and research are imcomplete and the World Health Organization is assisting in carrying these out. Reporting and laboratory diagnosis of communicable disease are inadequate and sometimes inaccurate. This is being improved. Medical checks for intending migrants from the South Pacific are, in a number of cases, inadequately performed in the country of origin and this situation should be altered. The risks to surrounding developed countries from migrants, temporary workers and returning travellers are not tremendous but they cannot be neglected and vigilance has to be maintained. Tuberculosis importation does present risks, as does that of typhoid. Malaria importation carries risks for Northern Australia. Leprosy poses little real risk to Australia or New Zealand and neither does filariasis. Cholera would have to be watched for closely should there ever be a South Pacific outbreak, but the developed countries around the South Pacific which are cholera-non-receptive can control occasional cases. Other than malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid and possibly dengue, problems are thus mainly in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals.