An "extraordinary" outbreak of an extremely contagious infection has forced dozens of Cairns AFL players into self-isolation and the league to postpone six games and abandon training sessions this week.
It's estimated about 50 players at two teams, South Cairns Cutters and North Cairns Tigers, have contracted conjunctivitis, an eye condition causing redness, irritation and weeping.
If left untreated the inflammation can lead to scarring and permanently impaired vision.
The Cutters were the first club to sound the alarm with the league on Monday afternoon after club president Heath Black said it emerged the team had a suspected 30 cases within its ranks.
"No-one's ever come across something like this before at a footy club," Mr Black said.
"We were aware of a couple of cases last week and thought we were on top of it and then on Monday got told more players had symptoms.
Following consultation with Queensland Health and AFL headquarters in Melbourne, the Cutters' Friday night clash against Manunda Hawks at Cazalys was cancelled with the game to be played at a date yet-to-be determined.
The women's match between the two teams on Saturday has also been postponed.
In yet another blow the Tigers' reserves, seniors and women's matches against Cairns Saints were also called off on Thursday afternoon after a further 20 players came forward with the condition.
League president Gary Young said while the delay was disappointing, case numbers would almost certainly have skyrocketed had games gone ahead as planned.
"I wouldn't have wanted to be responsible for that," Mr Young said.
"If everyone just sits down and quietly thinks about it, [they'll see] this way we're addressing it as quickly as we can.
"There's been some heartache about how we go about this and that's why we've sought advice. If you get on top of it, it passes fairly quickly."
Mr Young added the highly contagious nature of the condition made it hard to blame players for its rampant spread within the AFL community.
"It could be as innocent as an [infected] child giving mum or dad a hug," Mr Young said.
"Then they've come to footy training, shaken someone's hand and it's off and racing. It's that contagious."
'This is extraordinary'
Longtime AFL Cairns stalwart and general practitioner Garry Hartrick said the suspected case numbers were astonishing.
"We have one or two cases every year — a player comes along to training, doesn't think about it and is told to go home and not spread the bug around," said Dr Hartrick, a former Manunda Hawks president.
"But I can't recall anything like this. This is extraordinary.
"We know conjunctivitis is very infectious. You see it at schools but not so much with adults.
"Every now and then though you get something like this and it just takes off and that's obviously what's happened here."
Dr Hartrick said conjunctivitis could have lifelong effects on a person's health if not treated properly and promptly.
"It can cause ulceration on the cornea. Some of the bacterial infection can get in the eyes and cause cellulitis [inflammation] around the face and be responsible for long-term damage and decreased sight.
"We see a number of people every year in general practice who maybe don't tend to it early enough, maybe not taking medication or maybe just having a really nasty virus hit them.
"They end up seeing ophthalmologists some time after dealing with the ramifications."
Fixture shuffle
The fixture has the potential to hurt clubs financially with several teams flying in players from interstate for matches throughout the season.
But Mr Black said he hoped no team would be out of pocket and would work with the Hawks to ensure any money potentially lost could be recouped.
"Sometimes there's a cost involved around rescheduling tickets to fly in players. However, that can be recovered if given enough notice," he said.
"Manunda being the home team won't have any takings from the gate, bar or canteen this weekend.
"But with the rescheduling of the match we expect they should be able to recover the revenue they otherwise would've made.
"There's a couple of competition byes so that might be when the games will be played."
Dr Hartrick endorsed the league's decision.
"The chances of this becoming a major issue for those who've caught the infection is low but it's still present and there's the chance of it spreading further," Dr Hartrick said.
"It's a timely reminder that everything has the chance to become a very nasty infection."
Additionally, the Tigers and Cutters have been ordered to undertake "deep cleans" of their facilities at Fretwell Park and Watsons Oval before players can return.
In the lone men's and women's fixture, the Cairns City Lions play the Centrals Trinity Beach Bulldogs at the Holloways Beach Sports Complex on Saturday.
