Florida has recorded 252 locally acquired dengue infections this year through Sept. 26, surpassing its previous annual high as an outbreak centered in Hillsborough County prompts local emergency declarations.
The Florida Department of Health report released this week also lists 245 cases tied to international travel. Sixty-two of the local cases were new that week.
Most cases are in Hillsborough County (223); the rest are in Pinellas (13), Miami-Dade (8), Orange (3), Pasco (3), Palm Beach, and Polk. Thirteen of the travel-linked cases were also in Hillsborough.
Hillsborough County has one confirmed death from dengue fever, Pinellas County said in its Sept. 24 emergency resolution.
Federal health officials say dengue outbreak data is limited, but state health reports and medical journals suggest Florida’s outbreak has produced the most cases in any state in a calendar year since at least the 1940s….