Islanders laid low by Ross River virus

Glenn Heil was diagnosed with Ross River virus in early January.

He’s one of nine confirmed cases in the shire and because of the disease, he said he can’t work and his new charter boat business “has fallen in a heap”.

“My business is going down the gurgler. It’s a charter boat, and we’ve done it hard enough as it is with Covid and being shut down … and now this.”

He’s positive he contracted the disease on Phillip Island, as he hadn’t been away in the weeks prior to his symptoms appearing.

And he’s angry that more isn’t being done to warn people of the danger.

“Why hasn’t there been a notice put out around Phillip Island to let people know?”

He believes the cases are being kept quiet, because of the tourist season.

“My doctor said it was because they don’t want to alarm the tourists. But they should be alarmed,” he said.

“They need to cover up.”

He said even his warning posts on the Phillip Island Community Noticeboard on Facebook kept being removed.

“I put something up saying just be careful of the mozzies – it’s not good. It was pulled down within 10 minutes.”

He said a second post was also removed but on his third attempt, the post stayed up on the page. It quickly attracted over 100 comments, including from other locals who said they’d also been diagnosed with Ross River.

“Not on his game”

A week before Christmas, Glenn was feeling lethargic and “not on his game”, but put it down a heavy workload and end-of-year stress.

But when he had trouble paddling out in the surf with his sons on Christmas Day, he knew something was wrong.

“We’ve done it ever since they were little kids,” Glenn said.

“That morning, the boys were saying, are you alright dad? My knees wouldn’t bend. My ankles had swollen right up.”

A driver for Wildlife Coast Cruises as well as running his own charter boats, the Wimbledon Heights resident normally describes himself as fit and agile, but that all changed.

“I was really busy in the week before Christmas, but I felt really foggy in the head,” he explained.

“It was busy at Wildlife Coast Cruises, plus I had a couple of my own charters.”

Things got worse after Christmas.

“I took people out fishing the day before New Year’s Eve and I couldn’t move. I was on my hands and knees on the deck of the boat.”

He said his symptoms were so severe on New Year’s Day he had to cancel three jobs.

His ankles were so swollen a friend took him to the Health Hub, worried they were infected. Confronted with a huge queue waiting for Covid tests, the pair went home.

But the pain escalated overnight, and the following day Glenn returned.

As well as joint pain and swelling in his feet and hands, Glenn was now getting electric shocks in his arm.

He said the doctor at the Health Hub ran an ECG to check his heart, which came back normal.

“He said I think you’ve got severe arthritis or gout coming on and told me to go and see my own doctor,” Glenn explained.

His symptoms continued to worsen as he waited several days for the first available appointment with his GP.

“I went in and I had a referral from the Hub. The doctor there had totally discounted Ross River virus. As soon as I told my symptoms to my doctor, he said he had received a memo from DHHS saying anyone with these symptoms should be tested for Ross River.”

Glenn went straight for a blood test to confirm the diagnosis and the nurse told him she’d done six tests that week for the virus.

Now on a course of steroids to reduce the inflammation, Glenn said the eventual diagnosis was a relief.

“I was happy when I got the call saying I was Ross River positive, because I’d had three weeks of hell, not knowing what was wrong.”

As there is no “cure” for Ross River virus, Glenn said his doctor will continue to monitor his symptoms.

“I’m usually really healthy – surfing, working … but I just haven’t been able to do a thing.”

Cape Woolamai cause for concern

Two Cape Woolamai men have also tested positive for Ross River virus.

One man in his 30s was diagnosed just before Christmas, after a week of severe joint pain and fatigue.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, was unable to walk or move properly and is still suffering joint pain and fatigue issues.

His wife is fairly certain he picked up the virus in Cape Woolamai, as “we have had a mosquito problem in our back yard”.

The couple also know of two other people who’ve been diagnosed with the disease.

“We wonder how many people also have it without being diagnosed or getting the appropriate blood tests? Doctors are apparently surprised to see it back down here, so it may not have been on their routine testing for such symptoms.”

Dean Bould also lives in Cape Woolamai and first experienced symptoms in late November.

“I was really sore in my joints, but it went away after about five days,” he said.

“Then five days later I got this rash all over and the soreness returned. My fingers were swollen, and I was really tired.”

He visited the Hub and saw a doctor who told him “something was seriously wrong” and that he probably had “some sort of virus”. The doctor recommended rest, plenty of water and to take over-the-counter pain killers if the pain persisted.

“I did that, but I had no idea about Ross River virus. I lay low for a few days. Then a couple of friends said they thought I had Ross River. I googled it and I had all the symptoms. It matched exactly with what I was feeling.”

He didn’t go to the doctor – “I had started to feel better and I knew there was nothing I could do about it” – until he heard that other people in Cape Woolamai had tested positive for the disease.

He got a blood test between Christmas and New Year and received a positive result in early January.

He’s also sure he contracted the disease on Phillip Island.

“I haven’t been away and the only place I can remember being bitten was out in the backyard.”

He said there are definitely other cases on the island.

“I do know a couple of other people who had the same symptoms as me, but I’m not sure whether they got tested.”