Florida health officials warn of spreading dengue fever cases

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Health officials in Florida are warning of a potential increase in dengue fever cases after two new cases were reported to have spread locally in Broward County.

Those cases, the first such cases in the county, were revealed in a weekly report for the week ending August 5 from Florida Health.

Health officials also reported two new cases in Miami-Dade County, bringing the total number of locally spread cases in Florida to 10 for the year.

In a separate statement, health officials in Broward County noted that there were two locally acquired dengue fever cases in all of 2022, indicating that the number of cases could rise beyond previous years.

"Dengue is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is not normally present in Florida. However, infected travelers can bring the virus back to Florida mosquitoes," the health officials said in the statement.

Additionally, 43 cases of dengue were reported this week in people that had traveled internationally bringing the total of such cases so far this year to 190, health officials said. Those cases have been reported in counties across Florida.

The majority of dengue cases in Florida came from travel to Cuba, public health data shows. Cuba has been experiencing a major dengue outbreak since at least last year when the U.S. State Department confirmed the surge and issued a health alert.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there have been 513 cases recorded across the United States so far this year.