Florida's dengue outbreak is now the largest in the continental US in
decades
[October 03, 2026]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — Florida's current dengue outbreak appears to be the
largest in several decades in the continental United States.
State health officials reported this week that more than 250 locally
acquired cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been tallied so far
this year. The vast majority of them were in Hillsborough County, home
to Tampa.
Federal health officials say their data on dengue outbreaks is limited.
But available information from state health departments and medical
journals suggests the Florida outbreak marks the most cases in a
calendar year for any state since at least the 1940s.
Puerto Rico is consistently hit hard by dengue, with numbers much higher
than what's seen in any of the 50 states. But in the continental U.S.,
Florida usually gets the most locally transmitted cases. The state's
previous worst year was 2023, when just under 200 locally spread cases
were reported.
Officials in Hillsborough and surrounding counties have declared local
emergencies, and workers in the Tampa area are spraying day and night to
tamp down the population of disease-transmitting mosquitoes.
What is dengue?
Dengue (pronounced DEHN’-gay) is caused by a virus spread by a type of
mosquito.
Many infected people don’t get sick, but some experience fever, flu-like
symptoms and — notoriously — aches. It's been nicknamed “breakbone
fever” for the excruciating pain some people experience. Severe cases
can cause bleeding, shock and death.
There has been one dengue death in Florida this year — an elderly Tampa
woman on Sept. 4.
There are four types of dengue virus, simply known as 1, 2, 3 and 4.
When someone is first infected, their body builds antibodies against
that type for life. If they get infected with another type of dengue,
the antibodies from the first infection may fail to neutralize the
second type — and actually can help the virus enter immune cells and
replicate. That's made it difficult to develop an effective vaccine.
Most people in the Tampa area don't have prior immunity to any form of
dengue, said Dawn Wesson, a Tulane University expert on dengue and other
diseases spread by mosquitoes.
How does dengue spread?
The warm-weather mosquitoes that spread dengue live in Florida and some
other hotter U.S. locales, but experts say they have been expanding
their geographic reach because of climate change.
For decades, most continental U.S. infections were found among people
who caught the virus while traveling internationally, along with locally
acquired cases in Puerto Rico.
But in 2009-2010, Key West, Florida, reported the first dengue cases
acquired in the continental U.S. outside of the Texas-Mexico border
since 1945.
The largest outbreak of dengue in any U.S. state since then occurred in
Hawaii, where 264 locally acquired cases were reported over a six-month
span in 2015-2016. The Tampa-area outbreak, which first came to light in
July, is already on the verge of surpassing that.
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 Across the world, more than 2.2
million infections and nearly 1,200 deaths have been reported this
year, according to the World Health Organization.
There have been nearly 1,900 locally acquired U.S. cases this year,
most of them in Puerto Rico, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Why is it so bad in Tampa?
Florida tends to get a lot of dengue in part because the state
receives a lot of travelers who have been to Puerto Rico or other
places where the disease is present, Wesson said.
Usually most cases are in southern Florida, around the Miami area.
It's hard to say what's happening in the Tampa area this year, but
the surge may be at least partly related to travel patterns, she
added.
Locally acquired cases in Florida have actually surpassed
travel-associated cases, by a count of 252 to 245 as of last week.
But it's close, and at least 13 Hillsborough County cases were
diagnosed in travelers, according to the state.
Traditionally, the CDC would be highly visible in a situation like
this, but it hasn't been this time, Wesson noted.
The U.S. public health agency has to be invited in by state
officials, however, and Florida officials have not asked for CDC
disease investigators to come in, CDC spokesman Jason McDonald said.
The agency has provided $800,000 in assistance to the state health
department, he added.
What can you do to prevent infection?
The current outbreak is centered just north of Tampa, and workers
have been spraying to kill mosquitoes. They also have been checking
properties for pooled water, including in tires, where mosquitoes
might breed.
People in an outbreak area can take their own steps for protection,
experts say.
The virus-carrying mosquitoes can bite any time of day, so it's
important for people in an outbreak area to apply EPA-registered
insect repellents containing active ingredients like DEET, experts
say.
Wear loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts and long pants to cover the
skin and make it harder for mosquitoes to bite. Staying indoors,
behind screens or in rooms with air conditioning will also lessen
the chances for a bite.
Those steps are especially important just after sunrise and around
sunset, when mosquitoes tend to be most active, researchers say.
People should also check their property and get rid of any pooled
water where mosquitoes might breed.
Climate conditions and persistent mosquito populations will likely
make local dengue outbreaks a more frequent problem, Wesson said.
“There’s a good chance that this is the new normal,” she said.
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