Florida logged 32 new locally acquired dengue cases in one week, lifting the 2026 total to 73 as of Aug. 29.
Hillsborough County accounts for 59 cases, far ahead of Miami-Dade's 7, Pinellas' 5 and Palm Beach's 1, underscoring the outbreak's concentration in the Tampa Bay area.
Ten counties are now under mosquito-borne illness advisories or alerts, and Brevard County issued an advisory Sept. 3 after West Nile virus activity.
State health officials are also tracking 2 West Nile cases statewide and are urging residents to use EPA-recommended repellents and remove standing water to curb mosquito breeding.
With a dangerous dengue strain spreading locally, could the arrival of a new serotype trigger a much deadlier outbreak across Florida?
Since traditional spraying struggles against these specific mosquitoes, what hidden yard hazards are secretly fueling Tampa's unprecedented dengue surge?
Are cutting-edge genetic mosquito modifications the only real hope for stopping Florida's rising local dengue threat before it spirals out of control?