#11,772
In 2009 Dengue returned to Florida after a seven decade absence, likely brought into Key West by a viremic tourist. Local mosquitoes helped themselves to an infected blood meal, and as a result 24 cases were reported in 2009 (see MMWR: Dengue Fever In Key West), with another 63 the following year.
Since 2010 the number of Florida Dengue cases has dropped considerably, but in 2013 Martin county reported 22 cases, temporarily forcing the Suspension Of Blood Donations In Two Counties.
On June 1st of this year, the Monroe County Health Department issued a statement on Florida's first locally acquired case of 2016, but since then, no new local cases have been reported.
With tens of millions of visitors every year, it is inevitable that additional viremic travelers will arrive. The the most recent Florida Arbovirus Surveillance Report (Week 38) reports that so far in 2016 the Health Department has identified:
And those are just the ones we know about. Many cases will be mild or asymptomatic, and so the real number is undoubtedly much higher.
- 6 imported cases of Chikungunya,
- 40 imported cases of Dengue
- 41 imported cases of Malaria
- and 748 imported cases of Zika
So it comes as little surprise that over night another locally acquired Dengue case has been reported in Florida - just the second one of 2016. This time it is in Miami-Dade County, and a mosquito-borne illness advisory has reportedly been issued.
The Florida DOH site doesn't yet show the advisory, and details on the case are scant. The following report from WLRN Radio provides what little we know.
The good news is that mosquito-borne illnesses (including WNV, Zika, CHKV, SLEV, EEE, etc.) are largely preventable. Florida’s Health department reminds everyone to always follow the `5 D’s’:
And for more on the complex, and growing, threat from mosquito-borne illnesses in the United States you may wish to revisit:
Arboviruses: (Already) Coming To America
