Outbreak of Dengue Fever Is Reported in Florida
Dengue fever,
a growing scourge in the tropics, has established itself in a popular American
tourist destination, federal health officials reported last week.
Last August, an alert doctor in
upstate New York realized that one of his patients, whose only recent travel
had been to Key West, Fla., had dengue - a mosquito-borne virus that causes joint pain
so severe it is nicknamed "break-bone fever" in Latin
America and Asia. According to last week's report from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida health authorities have since
found 27 more cases, all in Key West, the last in April. Most victims had a
fever and pain in the head, body and eyes, and some had a rash.
The C.D.C. advised doctors to
consider a dengue diagnosis in patients with similar symptoms who have been to
subtropical parts of the United
States. Although there have been outbreaks
along the Texas-Mexico border since 1980, the disease had not been seen in Florida since 1934.
Unlike malaria, which
is caused by a parasite, dengue is a virus, and there is no cure. Patients
usually recover on their own. But in rare cases it can turn into dengue
hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome, which can be fatal. Dengue
cases have increased in the past 20 years in travelers returning from the
Caribbean, South America and Asia, and people
with the virus in their blood may transmit it to local mosquitoes. Now Florida has increased
its mosquito-control measures.