Locally Acquired Dengue Sparks Fear: Are We Ready for an Epidemic?

United States: On Monday, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced the state’s FIRST locally transmitted dengue virus case of 2024, identified in Cameron County.

According to a press release, Texas has recorded 106 travel-related dengue cases this year, along with one death. Experts noted that this year’s numbers are still well below the state’s highest annual totals since 2002.

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“Locally acquired” means the people who have become infected with the virus have not visited an area of the world where dengue is transmitted usually.

Transmission of dengue is usually prevalent in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, such as Florida and the US Caribbean territories, ABC News reported.

Dengue virus is transmitted through mosquitoes, and only 25 percent of its victims develop the symptoms of the disease.

The chief symptoms include fever with accompanying pains, nausea, vomiting, and rash, among others.

Symptoms take a maximum of two weeks from the time the person was bitten and are usually for two to seven days. The soreness and stiffness most commonly go away after a week.

The CDC also underlines that the only sure way to avoid the disease is to avoid being bitten by a mosquito.

Growing cases of Dengue

While Texas is reporting its first homegrown case of dengue this year, there have been 4,962 cases nationwide as of the CDC.

Last year, the state of Texas also had one locally acquired case. Most of the local cases in the nation are reportedly from Puerto Rico.

Fifteen have been reported in California, whereas 53 in Florida.

This year alone, up to the end of October, there are more than triple the number of Indigenous dengue cases nationally than what was seen throughout the whole of last year, ABC News reported.

In June, however, the CDC sent out a health alert notifying healthcare providers and travel clinics of the incidence of the dengue virus this year.

As in other parts of the world, the incidence of dengue has risen to its highest levels ever seen, flagged by the CDC.