Pasco counts three local dengue cases: how San Antonio households can cut mosquito risk

Illustrative file photo: An Aedes aegypti mosquito rests on a green leaf. This species can transmit dengue. Photo: Wee Hong / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized; website wordmark added. Photo source · License

Pasco County has three locally acquired dengue cases, and WUSF's Oct. 8 report on the latest Florida Department of Health figures listed Pasco among counties under a mosquito-borne illness alert. That makes standing water in San Antonio and Saint Leo yards a practical concern, not a distant one.

Statewide, WUSF reported 296 cases this year across eight counties, with 44 added in a single week. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco together account for more than 90 percent.

What the county declared

The Pasco Board of County Commissioners issued a local state of emergency for dengue fever in a notice published Sept. 23. The city of San Antonio reposted it on its website Sept. 25.

The declaration allowed the county administrator and emergency management director to waive everyday procedures to protect public health. The Sept. 23 notice said the order was in effect for seven days or until rescinded by the county administrator. The county said at the time that it was supporting the Pasco County Mosquito Control District and the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County.

Where the cases are

Most infections are across the county line. Hillsborough has recorded 259 confirmed cases since the first onset in July, and Pinellas has 20 after adding seven between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1. The outbreak also includes the region's first dengue-related death in about 100 years, an 80-year-old woman bitten near her South Tampa home, WUSF reported.

Health officials told WUSF the totals are likely an undercount because many infected people never develop symptoms. They also cautioned that daily commuting and travel can carry infections beyond the original hotspots, a relevant point for east Pasco residents who work elsewhere in the region.

WUSF reported that the three counties and other agencies are working together on pesticide spraying and neighborhood inspections for standing water. Adriane Rogers, executive director of the Pasco County Mosquito Control District, told WUSF: "This will certainly take some time to get under control, and we're not going to let up."

What residents can do

Dengue is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, a warm-weather species common in Florida. The county notice asks residents to follow "Drain and Cover" principles. In a Sept. 18 alert, the Florida Department of Health's Orange County office advised draining water from discarded tires, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flowerpots and any other container where sprinkler or rainwater collects, noting that a single water-filled tire can breed hundreds of mosquitoes.

The same health department alert recommends loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts and pants and an insect repellent registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, applied to exposed skin and clothing. Used as directed, the department says, those repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women. It also advises repairing damaged screens on windows, doors, porches and patios.

Know the symptoms

The health department describes dengue as a flu-like illness with severe muscle aches, joint pain, fever and sometimes a rash, with symptoms appearing within 15 days of a bite. It is not contagious from person to person; it spreads through the bite of an infected mosquito. WUSF reported that severe cases often require hospitalization and can cause bleeding, shock or death.

Questions about mosquito problems go to the Pasco County Mosquito Control District at 727-376-4568 or pascomosquito.org. Health questions go to the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County at 727-619-0300 or pasco.floridahealth.gov.