Mosquito-Borne Illness

Eight people in Hillsborough and two in Pinellas recently contracted the mosquito-borne illness locally, officials say. Both counties are under alerts. The disease is not endemic to the Tampa Bay region.

The Florida Department of Health offices in both counties said they are working with mosquito control agencies to monitor and respond to the cases.

Google put in a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency to release 32 million mosquitoes in Florida over two years. But it may not be as bad as it sounds.

Mosquito inactivity begins when temperatures reach around 50 degrees, with mortality setting in as temperatures approach the freezing mark.

Officials said positive tests were taken from chickens in Oldsmar and east Tarpon Springs. In response, mosquito control is initiating enhanced treatments such as additional truck fogging and aerial larviciding.

USF researchers are tracking mosquitoes around the world and looking for the disease-carrying and invasive ones.

The virus has infected over 7,000 people, mainly in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Foshan. An expert says the outbreak appears to be the largest ever documented in China.

Health experts anticipated 214 dengue travel cases brought into the state from other countries. So far, the count is at 859, about four times the predictions. Here’s what that means for the future.

One Florida physician says climate change needs to be part of the medical school curriculum in the U.S.

With Hurricane Helene flooding Pasco’s coastline, and Milton dumping over 15 inches of rain on the county’s interior, officials said the situation was especially inviting for Aedes aegypti.

Anyone who got sick with COVID-19 during the summer wave in South Florida has some protection against a future infection, but not full protection against germs spreading in fall and winter. Infectious disease experts recommend what shots to get now.

Part of the state’s surveillance program is keeping track of flooded areas, as pools of accumulated rainfall are prone to becoming mosquito breeding grounds.