Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Dengue fever has hit several states of the US sending health officials scampering across California, Florida and Texas to confront an alarming reality with nearly doubling dengue fever cases nationwide. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 3,700 new dengue infections were reported last year in the contiguous United States, up from about 2,050 in 2023, KFF Health News reported on Wednesday.
It added that the surge included 105 cases contracted in California, Florida or Texas — infections acquired locally rather than through international travel.
California witnessed the most dramatic escalation. In 2024, California saw 725 new dengue cases, including 18 acquired locally, reports Xinhua news agency, citing state data. This represented a nearly threefold increase from about 250 new cases, including two acquired locally, in 2023. The disease spreads through bites from infected Aedes mosquitoes, which have expanded their territory aggressively.
The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that transmit dengue were not known to be in the Golden State 25 years ago. They are now found in 25 counties and more than 400 cities and unincorporated communities, mostly in Southern California and the Central Valley.
Michael Ben-Aderet, associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying that he believed dengue fever had become a “new normal” in the United States, emphasising that the mosquito population would continue to persist.
