Dengue spreads across Florida — New local case confirmed in South Florida

Florida’s dengue outbreak has expanded into another part of the state after health officials confirmed the first locally acquired case of dengue this year in Broward County.

The Florida Department of Health announced the case Monday and issued a mosquito-borne illness advisory. Unlike a travel-related infection, a locally acquired case means the person was infected by a mosquito in the area. Broward health officials and county mosquito-control teams are now coordinating surveillance, prevention and control efforts.

Broward is now the eighth Florida county to report locally acquired dengue during the current outbreak. State data through September 26 showed 252 locally acquired cases, with the overwhelming majority concentrated in the Tampa area.

Tampa area remains the center of the outbreak

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, accounted for 223 of Florida’s 252 locally acquired cases through September 26. Pinellas had reported 13 cases, Miami-Dade eight, Orange and Palm Beach three each, Pasco three and Polk one.

The situation around Tampa has become serious enough that Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties have declared or extended local states of emergency. Additional mosquito-control crews and helicopters have also been brought into Hillsborough County to help with aerial spraying.

Florida has recorded one dengue-related death this year, involving an elderly Tampa woman who died in September.

The outbreak is particularly notable because available state health data and medical literature indicate that Florida is experiencing the largest dengue outbreak in the continental United States in decades. Florida’s previous high was in 2023, when just under 200 locally transmitted cases were recorded.

What Floridians should know

Dengue is transmitted primarily through infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Symptoms can include fever, severe muscle and joint pain, headache, nausea and rash. Severe cases can cause bleeding, shock and, in rare cases, death.

Health officials are asking Floridians to eliminate standing water around their homes, use EPA-registered mosquito repellent and wear clothing that covers exposed skin when possible.

The new Broward case shows that locally transmitted dengue is not confined to the Tampa Bay region, and health officials continue to monitor mosquito-borne illnesses across Florida.