The Florida Department of Health reports the number of locally-acquired dengue fever cases in Hillsborough County continue to rise – with 259 confirmed cases since July, which is 36 higher than the previous week’s numbers.
Chelsea Kendrick is the epidemiology program manager with the Hillsborough County Health Department. She said the number of cases are likely higher, since only one in four people exposed to the virus show symptoms.
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“We want residents to really look out for fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, and muscle or joint pain," she said.
That’s why inspectors and code enforcement officers from the city of Tampa went door-to-door in five neighborhoods Friday to spread information about the virus.
They passed out flyers in Southeast Seminole Heights, North Hyde Park, West Tampa, Forest Hills and Sulphur Springs, urging residents to dump out any standing water, which is how the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes responsible for the virus breed.
“By all means, we don't want any more breeding grounds for this dengue virus,” said Jack Ciucio, Tampa’s district supervisor of code enforcement. “It's out there, and it's spreading a lot quicker than we actually thought.”
The city threw Mosquito Dunks – floating, doughnut-shaped tablets that kill mosquito larvae – into bodies of water. They can be used in any stagnant water, since they don’t harm other biosystems in the environment.
City officials warn that even a bottle cap of standing water that has been sitting out for a week is big enough for mosquitoes to breed.
Their recommendations include:
- Empty or cover anything that could hold water outside your home. This includes buckets, toys, pools, birdbaths, trash or recycling containers, boat or car covers, roof gutters, coolers, pet dishes and tires.
- Apply insect repellent to any exposed skin and on your clothes.
- Use air conditioning and keep screens on all windows.
If you have a body of water you can’t care for on your own, like an unkempt pool, Ciucio said the city will issue a notice to do so. If you don’t, the city could take you to court and put a lien on your property.
“For the most part, whenever we issue notice to a property owner, they'll generally take care of it in a quicker manner,” Ciucio said.
But most of the breeding grounds come from tires.
“[It’s] kind of at the perfect time of the year, unfortunately, where we have a lot of rainfall,” Kendrick said. “These tires can hold large amounts of water.”
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Over the past three months, Tampa has removed 23 tons of tires – 17 tons were illegally dumped by tire shops, Ciucio said.
He said people dump loads of tires at night, leading city officials to have to get out as quickly as possible the next morning to clean them up and prevent more potential breeding grounds.
“There's no way of telling who dumped them unless there's cameras,” Ciucio said.
The Department of Health has been monitoring 85 tire shops statewide, but only two in Tampa have received citations.
