CDC Confirms Two Dozen Cases Of Dengue In Key West Over Past 9 Months - Source Of Infection Local

More than two dozen cases of locally-acquired dengue fever have hit the resort town of Key West, Fla., in the past nine months, officials from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Although not the first cases of home-grown dengue in the U.S., or even in Florida, the outbreak highlights the need for physician vigilance regarding this and other formerly exotic tropical diseases, the CDC said in the May 21 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"The re-emergence of dengue in Florida as well as the threat posed to the U.S. from other emerging mosquito-borne arboviruses (e.g., chikungunya) emphasizes the necessity for strong vector-borne surveillance and mosquito control infrastructure to rapidly identify and control outbreaks of dengue or other mosquito-borne diseases," MMWR's editors wrote in a commentary accompanying the report.

Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites. It can be debilitating, but is not usually fatal in otherwise healthy people.

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Key West physicians were also contacted to provide serum specimens from recent patients with symptoms consistent with dengue. Nine of 21 samples sent for testing came back positive for dengue. The tally of confirmed dengue infections in Key West eventually grew to 28, with the most recent case diagnosed in mid-April. Dengue is much more of a problem elsewhere in the hemisphere, with an estimated 4.6 million cases from 2000 to 2007 in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, according to MMWR's editors. But the Key West outbreak demonstrates the potential for significant penetration into the continental U.S., they suggested.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/dengue-fever-hits-key-west/story?id=10703442

It's been a PITA here in Brazil for a long time. Be sure not to have any containers with clean, still water available for the fuckers to reproduce.

has become established in the United States, several Latin American and Caribbean countries, parts of Europe and Africa. Tires have, for decades made for a great way to introduce and maintain this alternate vector. BTW, there are other mosquito species that can become infected and transmit dengue, if the ecology becomes favorable to their establishment.

with Dengue when I was a Navy nurse. Nasty illness. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.