Health Officials Issue Dengue Fever Alert in the Florida Keys

On Monday, July 1, health officials in Florida issued an alert warning residents in the Florida Keys of an uptick in cases of dengue fever, which is transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

The warning from the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County comes a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a national alert warning healthcare providers, public health authorities and the public of an increased risk of dengue virus infections in the U.S.

Florida health officials confirmed two locally-acquired cases of the dengue fever, which can present as a flu-like illness with severe muscle aches and joint pain, fever, and sometimes a rash.

Symptoms of dengue appear within 14 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Dengue fever is not contagious but is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito.

Health officials are working with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to mitigate dengue transmission by increasing door-to-door mosquito inspections, mosquito surveillance including trapping and monitoring, applying aerial and truck-mounted larvicide and adulticide mosquito treatments as necessary.

Members of the public are advised to mitigate the risk of mosquito bites by eliminating standing water sources the mosquitoes use to breed, keeping screens on all windows to keep mosquitoes outside, and using bug repellant when outdoors.

The CDC warned that countries in the Americas have reported a record-breaking number of dengue cases so far in 2024, "exceeding the highest number ever recorded in a single year." From Jan. 1 to June 24, countries in the Americas reported a total of 9.7 million cases of dengue, twice as many as were reported in all of 2023 (4.6 million cases). Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, has declared a public health emergency after reporting 1,498 cases so far this year.

According to the CDC, most cases of dengue fever reported in the 49 continental U.S. states are found in travelers who acquired the infection elsewhere.

The CDC says there have been a total of 2,241 cases of dengue fever reported in the U.S. and its territories so far this year, only 745 of which were acquired while traveling, and 1,496 of which were locally acquired. The locally acquired cases were reported mostly in Puerto Rico, as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida.

—TMX contributed to this report.