Florida Keys see 22nd case of Dengue fever. The last outbreak was 10 years ago
Monroe County now has 22 cases of Dengue fever as the region experiences its first outbreak in 10 years.
On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County reported an additional case of Dengue fever. Health officials say the cases were locally transmitted.
DOH and the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection are conducting epidemiological studies to find out where this outbreak started and the extent of its infections.
Most of the cases have been in about a two-mile area of Key Largo in the Upper Keys, according t o health officials. All are in the Key Largo area, DOH said Tuesday.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District on Tuesday said it has “begun to show measurable progress in the campaign focused on the vicinity of Key Largo.”
In addition to frequent neighborhood canvassing by inspectors, aerial mosquito treatments and ground mosquito treatments, FKMCD said it has stepped up mosquito surveillance, using numerous ‘traps’ at multiple locations to ensure that every control effort is customized for maximum effectiveness.
The last time the Keys had a Dengue fever outbreak was 2010, said Alison Kerr, spokeswoman for the health department in Monroe County. That year, 55 people contracted the illness, which is caused by the bite of a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that caused the Zika outbreak in Miami in 2016. Male mosquitoes don’t bite.
There have been no fatalities from the fever and mostly all who have contracted it are on the road to recovery, but health officials say Dengue can present as a severe flu-like illness with severe muscle aches and pain, fever and sometimes a rash.
Symptoms will appear within 14 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Dengue is not contagious and can only be transmitted through a bite.
Health officials are asking residents to take preparations against infection by using windows with screens, turning on the AC, keeping the area around your residence free from containers that collect water, wearing protective clothing and using insect repellents.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 8:20 PM.
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