Florida records its biggest dengue outbreak in decades as counties declare emergencies
Florida has reported 252 locally acquired dengue cases, the highest in the continental U.S. in decades, prompting three counties to declare states of emergency and intensify mosquito control measures.
Florida health officials said 252 locally acquired dengue cases had been confirmed by late September, the highest number recorded in the continental United States in several decades. Most of the infections were identified in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, and the county, along with Pasco and Pinellas, has declared local states of emergency to accelerate mosquito-control operations and eliminate standing water.
The state also logged 245 travel-related dengue cases this year, and at least 13 of the locally acquired infections involved people who had recently returned from abroad. The current total exceeds Florida's previous annual high of just under 200 cases reported in 2023 and rivals the 264 locally acquired cases recorded in Hawaii during a six-month period in 2015-2016.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has allocated $800,000 in emergency funding to support Florida's response, though it has not dispatched disease investigators because the state has not requested them. The agency advises residents in affected areas to use EPA-registered insect repellent, wear protective clothing, and remove standing water where mosquitoes breed.
Dengue, transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, can cause fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, and in rare cases, severe bleeding or shock. Florida reported one dengue-related death this year, an elderly woman in Tampa who died on September 4.