Hillsborough County, which remains an active area for dengue fever, declared a state of emergency Thursday over the mosquito-borne illness. So did neighboring Pasco and Pinellas, which took the proactive step to prevent the disease from spreading across county lines.
The local emergency orders remain in effect for seven days, unless rescinded or extended. They allow county administrators or emergency managers to quickly take actions to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the community, and provide access to federal resources.
Hillsborough added 36 cases of locally acquired dengue for the week of Sept. 13-19, the most recent data released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health. That’s likely an undercount because the state tally is nearly a week old, and other cases may not be confirmed.
Hillsborough officials said mosquito traps in many neighborhoods are showing dengue fever activity in the mosquito populations. The county said it is working closely with the state health department for surveillance, education and treatment in the impacted areas.
Hillsborough has been a designated "epicenter for the disease, with 170 of the state’s 190 cases reported since July. Health officials also recently confirmed the first dengue-caused death in the region in about 100 years — an 80-year-old woman bitten near her South Tampa home.
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Pinellas County, which has not had a confirmed case since August but seven overall, issued its local state of emergency late Thursday afternoon.
Pasco County, which has reported only two dengue cases, both in August, also decided it doesn’t want to wait for the disease to cross the county line. So, it declared an emergency on Wednesday as a preventative measure, said Trang Chitakone, administrator for the county’s health department.
“There is really no reason to be alarmed at this point,” Chitakone said at a Thursday news conference. “However, since we do have your attention, this is a time that we want to get the community involved to prevent further spread. Our numbers in Pasco are low right now, but we want to keep it that way. The concern is the rising number in the Tampa Bay region.”
Adriene Rogers, executive director of the Pasco Mosquito Control District, said the disease requires a regional response.
“It's bigger than any one mosquito control district, and it's bigger than any one county, said Rogers, who added that her agency has been monitoring the situation throughout the region and adjusting control activities since the onset of the Hillsborough spread in July.
“We did not wait for dengue to arrive in Pasco County before we started paying attention,” Rogers said. “We have been watching. We have been communicating with our partners, spreading awareness about the risk to our community.”
Mosquitoes may not travel; people do
The virus is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, warm-weather mosquito species common in Florida. Transmission typically occurs when a female mosquito acquires the virus while biting an infected person, then passes it to another person through a subsequent bite.
Health officials say the mosquitoes tend to stay where they hatch, rarely traveling more than a few hundred feet. But the people who are bitten aren’t confined to neighborhoods, and symptoms do not usually show for two weeks — and in only 1 of 4 human carriers.
Dengue presents as flu-like symptoms, including severe muscle aches, headaches, joint pain, fever and occasional rashes.
Symptoms usually start within 15 days of a mosquito bite. Hospitalizations are common for severe cases, which may cause bleeding or shock.
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Limiting the spread comes down to prevention — reducing the number of mosquitoes available to feed on human blood and the number of people who carry the disease.
Pesticide application tends to focus on areas near confirmed dengue cases. This is often identified by counts of diseased mosquitoes in pools or traps, bites of sentinel chickens or other dead birds who may have died from the disease.
Pasco County Mosquito Control commissioner Michael Cox compared the action to preparing for a hurricane.
“We are all sitting there watching the news, and we are in the cone of uncertainty, right?” he said. “We know there's a pending storm coming towards us, but we don't know exactly where it's going to hit. And we are encouraged to get ready, right, to prepare ourselves for a potential event coming towards us.”
Two cases in Orange County, previously reported by the local health department, were the only others in the latest state report.
However, Polk County on Thursday announced its first human case of locally acquired dengue. Officials with the county’s mosquito control division said they are coordinating surveillance and prevention efforts through inspections, treatment and outreach.
Hillsborough mosquito management workers have stepped up aerial and ground pesticide spraying in recent weeks. This week, the county said treatments from low-flying helicopters were performed in South Tampa, East Tampa, Seminole Heights, Bloomingdale and Riverview.
Hillsborough maintains an online resource for residents to view where treatments are scheduled.
"Just about every afternoon for several weeks now, we've been getting some rain, and the mosquito management folks spray their larvicide; we turn around and get some rain that washes that away, and you've got to treat again," Carla Fry, administrator and health officer with Hillsborough’s health department, told “Florida Matters Live & Local.”
Check for standing water
Obviously, spraying is not enough to combat the spread. That’s why officials throughout the region have been pushing residents to check for 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.
“This mosquito does not need a pond. This mosquito does not need a lake or a swamp down the street from your home,” said Rogers. “It can develop in small containers around your property holding fresh rainwater or irrigation water, very small amounts of water.”
Rogers pleaded for assistance from residents.
“Mosquito control cannot be accomplished by government alone,” Rogers said. “We can conduct targeted surveillance for the dengue vector. We can inspect properties. We can treat mosquito habitats. We can deploy ground and aerial equipment over tens of thousands of acres. We can monitor mosquito populations and disease activity, and we can coordinate with our public health partners and community communicate to the public."
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“But I want to say this as plainly as I can: Government cannot be in every backyard every day. We cannot be in your yard turning over every bucket. We cannot empty every flowerpot saucer or dump water out of every children's toy lying in your yard. We cannot remove every tire or clean everyone's gutter. That part of mosquito control belongs to all of us. Every one of us," Rogers continued.
Officials continue to stress personal protection against mosquito bites so the disease isn’t spread to a new human carrier. They recommend:
- Use 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.
“Through the efforts of our district and other folks in the Tampa Bay area, we will overcome this threat to the public health,” Cox said, “And we will certainly fight the bite.”
