There are at least 73 confirmed cases of dengue fever this year in Florida’s Tampa Bay area, making this the worst outbreak in nearly 100 years for the area, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Dengue is spread by two types of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, and Hillsborough County reports five times more mosquitoes in general in many areas that have been tested compared to recent years. Florida has seen an accelerating increase in the number of cases since 2000 for this potentially deadly disease, which is sometimes called “Break Bone Fever” for its often intense pain similar to a broken bone.
Observers warn that the timing could produce a “perfect storm”: with no leadership from either the federal or state government on containing the outbreak, severe cuts to federal disaster aid programs would arrive alongside Amendment 3 — the reckless, Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed state constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would strip more funding from local governments. The medical community expects the disease to keep spreading.
Before 1970, only nine countries had experienced severe dengue epidemics. The disease is now endemic in more than 130 countries, and the number of cases has roughly doubled every year since 2021, according to the World Health Organization. Up to 400 million people contract dengue worldwide each year, and an estimated 40,000 die. The same incompetent leadership that has allowed once-eliminated measles to return to most of the U.S. is threatening the world with a biological devolution.
