So far this year there have been almost a thousand travel-related cases of dengue fever reported in the continental United States, with 278 of them coming from Florida. This means someone contracted the disease outside of the country and then got sick once they were back home. There have also been 16 locally acquired cases of dengue so far this year — all of those were acquired here in Florida. Click here to see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's dengue fever data and statistics.
While travel-related cases of dengue aren't exactly uncommon, locally acquired cases are — and the Florida Department of Health has issued a mosquito-borne illness alert for the three counties where most of the cases were detected — that’s Miami-Dade, which has had 11 cases; and Hillsborough and Monroe counties, which two each. There’s also been one case of locally-acquired dengue reported in Pasco County.
These numbers might seem low, they are a cause for concern. While most people who get dengue will not have symptoms, some people will experience high fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and rash — and in a small percentage of cases dengue can be significantly more severe and can even be fatal. Click here to learn more about the disease.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease, so we sit down with two people from the Lee County Mosquito Control District. Because Lee County has more than 56,000-acres of salt marsh habitat filled with mangroves — which is perfect for breeding mosquitoes — the county’s mosquito control operation is one of the most extensive operations of its kind in the country. They monitor for the presence of mosquitoes, and use a variety of methods to kill not only adults but try to stop them from developing while still in the larval stage using everything from World War II era planes to modern drones, among quite a few other more hands-on techniques.
Guests:
Ed Foley, Operations Manager at the Lee County Mosquito Control District
Jenifer McBride, Communications Director at the Lee County Mosquito Control District
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