Beau Mills has lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for 16 years with his family, he said. Recently, he took a group of 30 scouts on a trip to Hookena Beach, located on the Big Island. He led scouts and some families to the beach towards the end of October.
“At the time, the state hadn’t come out with a report that the area had been infected with dengue fever. It’s our favorite place to camp so we didn’t think anything of it,” said Mills.
Mills also mentioned the state had its first known case of dengue fever on Sept. 11 of 2015, but it was not associated with the area in which they were camping. A couple weeks after the group’s camping trip, the state announced the first week of November that dengue fever was being associated with the area of Hookena Beach. Mills said they stayed for three days and two nights.
“Eleven of the people that went down with us were infected with dengue fever, but their symptoms didn’t show up until four to seven days after the trip.”
Kaiwi Mills, Beau’s youngest son, went on the campout and contracted dengue fever. “He became sick around the same time that all the other people got sick as well. His symptoms were typical for dengue fever, which included a high fever, rash, and headaches. There is no known cure for the disease so we just had to ride it out. Doctors said not to take Ibuprofen but to take Tylenol instead,” said Mills.
The State Department of Health contacted Mills weeks after the trip because of the large number of people that went camping. “The state of health got in touch with me and wanted to know the names and living conditions of all the people that contracted dengue fever. Some of the questions included ‘Do they have screens on their windows? Are the screens in good condition? Do they go out anywhere?’ There were so many people to keep track of that the state individually contacted the parents and checked up on them frequently,” said Mills.
The state is primarily worried about the spread of the disease, which is why they are in an effort to prevent it from happening again. Soon after the kids were inflicted with the illness, Mills talked to the local residents in the area and asked them some questions.
Mills said, “None of the residents had contracted the illness. But a lady who has lived there for most of her life said that there was a yoga retreat with people from Bali who had come a couple weeks before we went camping.”
He said when the people came they felt fine but a couple days into the retreat a couple of the people became ill. “The lady said that it got to a point where the housekeeper of the house where the yogis were staying were cautioned not to enter the house,” said Mills.
According to Mills and the State of Hawaii, Hookena Beach is closed to the public except for local residents in the area. The State cautioned Mills afterward, telling him to cover up with long sleeves and pants. “They told us to wear light colored clothing because the specific mosquito is attracted to dark colors. They also advised us to wear mosquito repellent and to caution away from areas where dengue fever has been contracted,” said Mills.
In an effort to halt the population growth of the infected mosquitoes, the state has been going into the areas and spraying them once a week. “This is a joint effort with the State of Hawaii and the county. They are taking every effort to stop it from infecting the whole island,” said Mills.
Hookena Beach is near a small cattle village where Mill’s mother lives. “We have gone camping there for years and love it every time because there is an open lot across from my mother’s home. There are lots of trees and plenty of shade.”
He said usually it is pretty dry, with no mosquitoes, but this year was different because it had rained for two weeks before they went camping. “The boys love camping down there because there is so much to do. We camp, fish, hike, swim and all the other things you do at scout camps,” said Mills.
As of Jan. 1, 2016, 204 cases of Dengue fever were confirmed by the state of Hawaii. Dengue is not native to Hawaii but is intermittently imported from endemic areas by infected travelers.