There has been a surge in the number of cases of Ross River virus in flood-affected southern Queensland, according to Queensland Health.

Joint swelling, fatigue and muscle aches are caused in sufferers by the mosquito-borne disease.

Department's Darling Downs public health unit’s Peter Boland says the disease takes time to be detected and this might increase the number of cases.

He added, "After the flooding obviously the mosquito breeding environments have increased above their normal levels, so we're getting a lot more mosquito breeding. The diseases are in the community already, when we get an increased number of mosquitoes in the community, we'd expect to see the diseases spread."

Boland however feels that a widespread outbreak can be prevented by mosquito eradication programs implemented by councils.

He further added, "What we'd expect to see is the numbers continue to rise over the next couple of months, but what we have in our advantage is that the councils in the flood-affected areas have been supported in their vector control activities by vector control teams from both Brisbane City Council and Gold Coast City Council."