Florida Woman Becomes First Recorded Dengue Fatality in State in Nearly a Century

An 80-year-old Florida woman has become the state's first recorded fatality from dengue fever in nearly 100 years, health officials confirmed. Gay Small died on September 4, her birthday, at Tampa General Hospital after contracting the mosquito-borne illness near her home.

Her death certificate lists dengue infection, septic shock, and multi-organ failure as causes of death, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The Florida Department of Health verified dengue fever as the cause of her passing.

Small's daughter, Anna Small, expressed dismay that her mother, who was in good health and actively maintained a healthy lifestyle, succumbed to the virus. "She met the wrong mosquito, and that’s it," Anna Small told News Channel 8, noting that her mother had traveled extensively and might have contracted dengue years ago without realizing it.

Kristi Miley, a professor at the University of South Florida's College of Public Health, stated that Small's death is the first dengue fatality recorded in Tampa Bay in almost a century. This event occurs as Florida experiences an unprecedented outbreak of locally acquired dengue cases since July.

Hillsborough County has become the epicenter of this outbreak, with 134 out of 152 dengue cases reported in Florida this summer originating there. The state has seen over 330 dengue cases this year, the highest prevalence in the United States, far exceeding California's 31 cases.

Paolo Pecora, an environmental scientist with Hillsborough County, described the current outbreak as a scale the county has never witnessed. He urged residents to participate in reducing mosquito breeding grounds by emptying any containers or surfaces that can hold standing water. "It's a team effort. It's a community effort," Pecora told the Tampa Bay Times. "That's how this problem is really going to be resolved."