Queensland's chief health officer says eligible Queenslanders should get vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis virus as mosquito populations boom after a wet spring.
After a series of months with no detections of the virus, John Gerrard said it was "highly likely" the virus would return during summer.
The virus can, in serious cases, cause swelling of the brain.
However, less than 1 per cent of cases become serious, with 30 per cent of those serious cases leading to death.
This year one Queenslander has died of the virus, with five confirmed cases all detected in southern Queensland.
"The single most important thing to do is to avoid getting bitten by mosquitos," Dr Gerrard said.
"This means avoiding mosquito activity, particularly around dawn and dusk, cover up with light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing and use effective mosquito repellent."
Vaccinating against virus
Humans can only catch the virus via a mosquito, but some animals can carry and be affected by it.
Piggeries and feral pigs are thought to be the most dangerous spreaders of the virus.
"We've looked at identified specific groups of people who may be at higher risk of infection and should consider getting vaccinated," Dr Gerrard said.
"These include people who live or work in the local government areas of Balonne, Goondiwindi, North Burnett, South Burnett, Quilpie and Western Downs, as well as those who live in and around Millmerran."
People who worked with or lived near domesticated or feral pig populations, as well as people who worked directly with mosquitoes, were urged to get the single-dose vaccine.
Limited jabs
But Dr Gerrard said vaccines were in short supply.
"We only have 30,000 doses available in Queensland," he said.
"The vaccine is in high demand around the world so supplies are not unlimited, at this stage we can only make a rough estimate of the requirement."
There is also a discrepancy between the locations of Queensland's pig populations and Japanese encephalitis vaccination centres, with no vaccines available west of Goondiwindi.
Traps to monitor mosquitos
The Darling Downs public health team has been working to understand more about mosquito-borne diseases.
Darling Downs director of public health and community medicine, Liam Flynn, said a range of traps had been set up across waterways and other public spaces.
"The mosquitoes that are caught are taken to a lab where we analyse them for their different breeds, but also for what diseases they might be carrying," Dr Flynn said.
Areas affected by mosquito-borne diseases will be added to the Queensland Health website.
"We've done this to understand the burden of disease that we're all facing at the moment," Dr Flynn said.
