Border health officials expect far more COVID-19 cases to emerge in coming weeks as well as possibly new instances of Japanese encephalitis.
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Murrumbidgee Local Health District director public health Tracey Oakman said on Friday most of the eight NSW Japanese encephalitis patients had been unwell in February.
"It does take some time for the testing results to be confirmed," she said.
"We are investigating more cases and potentially there are more cases."
She agreed the official number of coronavirus cases on the Border was a likely underestimation, with a recent spike in numbers.
"There is the prediction that we will be seeing a doubling of cases over the next five weeks," she said.
"We are expecting a lot more cases and so again that's a really timely reminder for people who are out and about and thinking we're all free; it's not over by a long shot."
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The eighth confirmed JE case in NSW was a Temora man in his 50s who was treated in hospital initially and was continuing to recover at home.
Ms Oakman said vaccines were being offered to people who work with mosquitos, at piggeries or in certain laboratories.
"There is limited supply and we are targeting those at-risk groups currently but that will be broadened as more vaccine arrives into the country," she said.
"More supplies have been ordered and are expected to arrive in April."
Mosquito numbers are expected to decrease as the weather grows cooler.
"That will give us a reprieve, what we don't know is what's going to happen next year," Ms Oakman said.
"It is unlikely that this virus will disappear and so that vaccination program will be important to set us up for future summer."
The health chief said the Department of Primary Industries was conducting further tests at piggeries to determine the spread of Japanese encephalitis.
"The virus may have got into other animals and so there are studies being set up so we can try and find the length and the breadth of where the virus may have been and how long it may have been around," she said.
The JE virus is spread by mosquitoes and can infect animals and humans. The virus cannot be transmitted between humans, and it cannot be caught by eating pork or other pig products.
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