Florida Officials Declare State of Emergency Amid Dengue Fever Outbreak
The state is experiencing one of its worst outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness, with nearly 200 locally acquired cases reported.
Florida health officials have declared a local state of emergency in response to a significant outbreak of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness also known as “breakbone fever.” The declaration comes as the state grapples with one of its most severe outbreaks of the disease in recent years.
The Florida Department of Health has reported 190 locally acquired cases and one death across several counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough. This marks a substantial increase compared to previous years, with 199 cases reported in 2023 and only 62 cases in the year prior.
Chris Wilkerson, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County, described the situation as “wildly unusual” for the region. The current numbers are the second-highest in state history.
Dengue fever is typically found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. While many cases in the U.S. are linked to international travel, the rise in locally acquired cases in Florida has raised alarms.
This outbreak follows a similar significant cluster of locally acquired cases in Key West in 2009, the first major outbreak in the continental U.S. outside the Texas-Mexico border since 1945. Cases also saw a notable spike in 2004, with a 359% increase from the previous two-decade average.
Experts attribute the current surge to several factors, including the proximity to dengue-prevalent areas like Puerto Rico, increased rainfall, and warmer temperatures that accelerate mosquito reproduction. The Aedes mosquito, responsible for spreading dengue, also transmits diseases like Zika and yellow fever and is found in much of the southeastern and southwestern United States.
Dengue fever symptoms can include fever, rash, headaches, nausea, and severe joint and bone pain. However, some infected individuals may experience no symptoms, potentially leading to an undercount of actual infections.
Mosquito control staff in affected counties are actively engaged in community outreach, home inspections, trapping, monitoring, and testing. While recent mosquito samples have tested negative for the virus and there is no evidence of vertical transmission from infected female mosquitoes to their offspring, health officials emphasize the continued threat.
"I do think it’s going to be somewhat the new normal," Michael von Fricken, a University of Florida associate professor of environmental and global health, told ABC News, suggesting that the risk of dengue may persist in the region.