Top Enders have been enjoying a welcome deluge as the wet season kicks into gear, but the rain also prompts the rise of a deadly dirt disease and plagues of virus-carrying mosquitoes.
The wet weather signals the start of melioidosis season, with five deaths and 53 reported cases of the life-threatening illness in the Northern Territory's tropical region last year.
During the dry season, melioidosis bacteria live deep within the soil, but after heavy rains they can be found in surface water and mud, the Centre of Disease Control says.
"An increase in cases usually follows heavy rains, as well as after cyclones and floods," CDC Director Dr Vicki Krause said.
"Cuts and sores are the perfect entry point for the bacteria to invade the body, but it can also be inhaled if it's stirred up by the wind."
The time from infection to acute disease ranges from one to 21 days, and sick people can be treated with antibiotics.
But it can lead to severe pneumonia and blood poisoning, with up to 15 per cent of infections ending in death, even with the best medical care.
People most at risk of developing melioidosis have an underlying immune system weakness due to conditions including diabetes, heavy alcohol intake, cancer, or advanced age kidney and lung disease.
But healthy people can also become infected with the 'Nightcliff gardeners disease' if they are working in mud, soil or pooled water without good hand and foot protection.
Health authorities are also urging people living in coastal areas to protect themselves from mosquitoes, with insect numbers expected to boom on Tuesday and increase further over the coming weeks until the arrival of the monsoon.
"This is the time of the year when rainfall and very high tides trigger extensive salt marsh mosquito breeding," Health Department Director of Medical Entomology Nina Kurucz said.
The bugs carry the viruses for the debilitating Ross River and Barmah Forest disease, and the government has already conducted aerial sprays of the larvae in breeding areas.
"Darwin is surrounded by swamps and with a flight range of over 50 kilometres, these mosquitoes will make their way into Darwin, Palmerston and rural areas from outside the extensive control area," Ms Kurucz said.
MELIOIDOSIS SYMPTOMS:
* Skin ulcers or sores that fail to heal
* Abscesses
* Fever
* Weight loss
* Fatigue
* Cough and shortness of breath
* Abdominal pain and urinary symptoms
* Headache and confusion
