Hillsborough County remains in a fight against locally acquired dengue fever, with another 36 infections appearing on the state’s latest weekly arbovirus report.
The county has now recorded 259 confirmed cases of mosquito-borne illness since the first onset in July, according to Thursday’s update from the Florida Department of Health.
"We have not seen what we call the epidemiology curve dip to show us that we are getting where we need to be. We do still have ongoing transmission," Carla Fry, administrator and health officer for the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, said during an online briefing Tuesday.
"It's pretty steady. It's not slower, it's not faster. We're getting cases ... each and every day," Fry continued.
And there are early signs the spread may be pushing toward Pinellas County, which added seven cases from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1, for a total of 20 this year.
ALSO READ: Amid dengue outbreak, mosquito control experts are wary of a wet winter fueled by El Niño
Health officials have cautioned that dengue doesn't respect county boundaries. In a region connected by daily commuting and travel, infected people can help spread transmission beyond the outbreak's original hotspots.
The virus is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, a warm-weather species common in Florida. Transmission typically occurs when a female acquires the virus while biting an infected human, then passes it to another person through a subsequent bite.
Statewide, 44 cases were reported during the week, and 296 for the year across eight counties. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco (with three) account for more than 90 percent.
Health officials are confident that this is an undercount because many infected people never show symptoms to report. In others, symptoms may not appear for days.
ALSO READ: Broward County issues advisory after confirming first dengue case of year
" We have so many folks who are walking around who have dengue. They're pretty much asymptomatic. They don't even know that they have it," Fry said.
People with dengue can feel as though they have the flu, with severe muscle aches, headaches, joint pain, fever and occasional rashes. Hospitalizations are common for severe cases, which may cause bleeding, shock or even death.
The outbreak, reportedly Florida’s largest in decades, also includes the first dengue-related death in the region in about 100 years: an 80-year-old woman bitten near her South Tampa home.
Local states of emergency have been declared in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco, which, along with other county agencies, are working together on pesticide spraying and neighborhood inspections for standing water and other mosquito breeding areas.
"This will certainly take some time to get under control, and we're not going to let up," said Adriane Rogers, executive director of the Pasco County Mosquito Control District.
ALSO READ: Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties declare states of emergency to battle dengue fever
As of Saturday, Brevard, Broward, Holmes, Leon, Manatee, Martin, Palm Beach, Polk and Walton counties are under a mosquito-borne advisory. Alachua, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco and Pinellas are under a mosquito-borne illness alert.
Officials continue reminding residents to check their yards and remove standing water, where Aedes larvae can hatch. Items to check include buckets, flowerpots, toys, pet dishes, bird baths, clogged rain gutters, discarded tires, a pool cover and plant leaves.
For personal protection against mosquito bites, officials recommend using a federally registered insect repellent with these active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol or 2-undecanone.
Wear loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts and long pants while outside and avoid areas with high mosquito populations, especially at sunrise and sunset.
“[It’s] safe to assume that any mosquito you encounter could be a mosquito that is carrying dengue," Fry said.
