New Cuban mosquito-borne illness found in Tampa Bay area; experts concerned

PASCO, Fla. (WFLA) — The hot and rainy summer left the Tampa Bay area with plenty of standing water and set off a mosquito population boom.

These pests are more than just a nuisance, they can give you some pretty serious illnesses.

Experts said the number of mosquito-borne illnesses is on the rise this year, which means you and your family need to take extra precautions to stay safe.

“Mosquitos are in fact the world’s deadliest animal, because of things like Malaria and dengue fever,” said Adriane Rogers.

Rogers, with Pasco County Mosquito Control District, said Hurricane Debby produced a lot of water. Their organization is increasing its mitigation efforts to fight back on mosquito production.

Their efforts are both on the ground and in the air.

“Technicians that go out into the field, and they are actively searching for mosquito larvae, immature mosquitos, and when they find them, they can either treat them there at the site or they can recommend them for aerial treatment,” said Rogers.

“Our helicopters have been flying every day since the storm doing nightly treatments to control adult mosquitos as well.”

She said mosquito-borne illnesses are not only impacting the country and around the globe but also locally.

Diseases like Malaria and West Nile are commonly known, but there’s a new one that has everyone concerned.

“There’s an emerging, infectious disease that we are now concerned about called Oropouche fever. Similar to Dengue fever, if you’re familiar with that, it’s originating from Cuba right now. We have a lot of international travel, and the symptoms are similar to Dengue,” Rogers said.

There has been one Oropouche case identified in Pasco County and 30 across the state.

To protect yourself, you need to do everything you can to minimize your exposure to mosquitos.

• Wear long sleeve shirts and pants, especially if you are outside around dusk or dawn
• Cover up any exposed skin
• Use insect repellant that has the ingredient Deet
• Drain standing water around your house
• Educate and inform your community about the dangers of mosquitos
• See your local doctor if you are experiencing symptoms after being bit, like fever, chills, or nausea.

“After a rain event, you go outside, dump out those containers, anything that can hold water can be an area mosquitos will lay their eggs,” Rogers said.

There are more than 80 different species of mosquitos in the state of Florida, so for more protective measures and information, click here.

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