The Pacific Community says it's concerned about outbreaks of dengue fever in the region becoming harder to combat.
This comes amid signs that Samoa's government may be downplaying the extent of the spread of dengue in the country.
The Pacific Community, or SPC, is currently monitoring outbreaks of the mosquito‑borne disease in French Polynesia, Samoa, American Samoa, Fiji, and Wallis and Futuna.
SPC's acting deputy director for public health unit Sala Saketa said there were often just one or two strains at any one time, with serotype 2 the most common.
But according to Doctor Saketa, there had been ongoing shifts in the dengue strain as well as other major challenges.
She says most of these countries don't have the resources to combat such an outbreak depending on the size and the number of people being affected.
Source: RNZI
