This summer, public health officials in Florida issued a warning to residents to avoid mosquitoes after five cases of dengue fever were reported. Also known as “breakbone fever,” dengue fever is an illness not to be wished upon a worst enemy. Symptoms include nausea, high fever and debilitating body aches and headaches, usually behind the eyes. Rashes can occur across the body, and in severe cases, bleeding can occur in the nose or gums.
It’s one of many mosquito-borne illnesses to creep back onto U.S. soil recently after many species were eradicated in the U.S. in the 1960s. Europe is also experiencing a surge in dengue, and severe outbreaks were also reported in Bangladesh, Costa Rica and Peru. The problem is only expected to get worse as warmer temperatures due to climate change expand breeding seasons and habitat ranges for mosquitoes. It’s a matter of when, not if, future outbreaks will spread in even bigger regions across the U.S., said Sadie Ryan, Ph.D., the co-director of the Florida Climate Institute at the University of Florida.
