An epidemic of dengue occurred at the beginning of 1989 in New Caledonia. About 18 p.c. of the population was stricken (25,000 to 30,000 estimated clinical cases). The military camp of Plum was stricken too, but a prompt vector control was established. 8.6 p.c. of the strength was affected by classical dengue without severe hemorrhagic manifestations. Such prevalence is lower than the one rated in the civil population, demonstrating the major importance of vector control to limit spreading of such an epidemic as a tetravalent vaccine is not yet available.