The North Australian Bauxite and Alumina Company (NABALCO) town of Nhulunbuy and the nearby aboriginal community of Yirrkala are situated on the Gove Peninsula approximately 650 km east of Darwin.
Two officers from the Medical Entomology Section visited the two communities during 21-25 March 1983 to conduct an Aedes aegypti survey and to liaise with the Regional Health Surveyor (Mr G. Butler) on vector mosquito control activities in Nhulunbuy.
Prior to this survey the most recent search for Ae. aegypti, the recognised vector of dengue in Australia, had been conducted in April 1978. Ae. aegypti was not detected in either of the communities at that time.