Dengue fever strikes United States after 65-year absence
After an absence of sixty-five years, dengue fever has reentered the United States through the Florida Keys; the CDC reports that twenty-eight people in Key West came down with the dangerous fever; infected mosquitoes have been moving northward thanks to global warming, and there has been increased travel between the United States and South and Central America and the Caribbean — areas which have seen nearly five million cases of dengue fever from 2000 to 2007
The source of the Dengue Fever infection // Source: gather.com
Dengue fever has reentered the United States via the Florida Keys after an absence of sixty-five years. The mosquito-borne virus has been identified in twenty-eight people from Key West by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC announced the findings last week in its >Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“We don’t know for sure that this hasn’t happened before without being noticed,” says Christopher Gregory of the CDC’s dengue branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “It could be the tip of the iceberg.”
New Scientist quotes Gregory to say that most cases resolve after flu-like symptoms. He says the best precaution is to empty standing water from potential mosquito breeding grounds, such as birdbaths.
Gregory says the blame for this dramatic rise could lie with increased travel between the United States and South and Central America and the Caribbean — areas which have seen nearly five million cases of dengue fever from 2000 to 2007. Infected mosquitoes have also been moving northwards, thanks to global warming.
Dan Epstein of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C. is worried that these two factors could lead to outbreaks of dengue haemorrhagic fever, the most severe and lethal form of the disease, which is present in South America.
Gregory is more concerned about the potential spread of chikungunya, an incurable mosquito-borne virus, that causes crippling arthritis-like symptoms. It is only a matter of time before it reaches the United States, he says.
