There have been almost a 1,000 travel-related cases of dengue fever reported this year in the continental United States, with 278 involving Florida residents.
This means someone from the state 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 the mosquito-borne illness, meaning they were acquired in Florida.
Click here to see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's dengue fever data and statistics.
While travel-related cases are common, locally acquired cases are not — 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 in Miami-Dade, which has 11 cases; and Hillsborough and Monroe, which two each. There’s also been one case of locally-acquired dengue reported in Pasco County.
These numbers might seem low, but 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. A small percentage of cases can be significantly more severe and even be fatal.
To learn more, Gulf Coast Life host Mike Kiniry sits down with two people from the Lee County Mosquito Control District: operations manager Ed Foley and communications director Jenifer McBride,
Because Lee 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.
Employees monitor for the presence of mosquitoes, and use a variety of methods to kill the adults and stop the insects from developing while still in the larval stage. The tools include everything from World War II-era planes to modern drones, among few hands-on techniques.
Click on the Listen button above to hear the conversation.
