Florida reports 1st human West Nile virus cases of the year, 18th local dengue case
West Nile virus
Florida state health officials reported the first two human West Nile virus (WNV) cases of 2024 this past week.
The two human cases of WNV illness acquired in Florida have been reported in Duval (July) and Marion (July) counties.
In addition, two asymptomatic positive blood donors were reported from Marion (July) and Walton (July) counties.
In addition to the above cases, officials also report 33 WNV-antibody positive sentinel chickens have been reported from 10 counties.
West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes mild to severe illness. It was first identified in Uganda in 1937. WNV was first introduced to the United States in 1999 in New York and reached Florida in 2001. Since its initial detection, human cases of WNV have been reported in all U.S. states with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. The virus is now considered endemic in the U.S., with annual epidemics in some parts of the country, peaking in the late summer months.
The peak period of transmission in Florida is July through September. Since its introduction, WNV activity has been identified in all 67 of Florida's counties.
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Dengue fever
The Department of Health also reported one additional locally-transmitted dengue fever case from Miami-Dade County during the past week.
In 2024, 18 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported in Hillsborough (2), Miami-Dade (12), Monroe (3), and Pasco counties.
Out of the 18 cases, 11 were serotyped as DENV-3, four as DENV-1 and three are unknown.
Officials have also recorded 319 travel-associated dengue cases year to date from 29 counties, with the most reported from Miami-Dade County (138) and Broward County (47).
Other
In addition to the dengue and WNV cases reported in the state, authorities have reported five travel-associated chikungunya cases, two travel-associated Oropouche fever cases and 30 travel-associated malaria cases.