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Florida’s dengue outbreak is now the largest in the continental US in decades
Orlando Sentinel • • health
Key Points:
- Florida is experiencing its largest dengue outbreak in several decades, with over 250 locally acquired cases reported this year, mostly in Hillsborough County near Tampa.
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus causing flu-like symptoms and severe pain, with one death reported in Florida this year; the disease spreads through warm-weather mosquitoes whose range is expanding due to climate change.
- The current outbreak in Tampa is on track to surpass Hawaii’s 2015-2016 outbreak, which had 264 cases, marking one of the largest in the continental U.S. since the 1940s.
- Florida’s dengue surge may be linked to travel patterns from dengue-endemic areas like Puerto Rico, and local cases have now outnumbered travel-associated infections in the state.
- Preventive measures include using EPA-approved insect repellents, wearing protective clothing, eliminating standing water to reduce mosquito breeding, and public health efforts like spraying to control mosquito populations.
