Florida health officials have recorded more than 250 locally acquired dengue cases this year, most of them in Hillsborough County, the Associated Press reported.
Florida's current dengue outbreak appears to be the largest in several decades in the continental United States, the Associated Press reported. State health officials said this week that more than 250 locally acquired cases had been tallied this year.
Most of the cases were in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa. Federal officials say their outbreak data are limited, but available state and journal records suggest no continental state has recorded as many cases in a calendar year since at least the 1940s.
Puerto Rico is regularly hit much harder than any of the 50 states. In the continental United States, Florida usually records the most local transmission. Its previous worst recent year was 2023, with just under 200 locally spread cases, AP reported.
Locally acquired infections in Florida have surpassed travel-associated ones, 252 to 245 as of last week. Cases are usually concentrated in southern Florida around Miami, and specialists told AP the Tampa-area surge may be partly related to travel patterns.
Dengue is spread by mosquitoes. The outbreak has shifted attention from imported infections to local transmission in a Gulf Coast county.