Florida Keys is experiencing its first life-threatening mosquito-borne outbreak in a decade.
A total of 16 cases were reported by the Florida Department of Health on Friday, in which all have been in about a two-mile area of Key Largo in the Upper Keys.
Alison Kerr, spokesperson for the health department in Monroe County said that the last Dengue outbreak in the Keys was in 2010, wherein a total of 55 people contracted the illness.
“The health department in Monroe and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District are working closely to continue surveillance and prevention efforts,” Kerr said.
“Florida Keys Mosquito Control District is assisting with the investigation and has intensified its mosquito control activities.”
None of those infected by Dengue has died this year, and all are expected to make a full recovery.
The Dengue fever is a potentially deadly illness caused by the bite of a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that caused the Zika outbreak in Miami in 2016.
Symptoms include fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, abdominal pain, loss of appetite and widespread rash.
There are currently no cure or specific treatment available, but patients can relieve the symptoms by staying hydrated, taking painkillers and ample of rest.
In severe cases, Dengue may cause respiratory distress, organ failure and change in mental state.
Health officials urge people to limit exposure to mosquitoes, which includes cleaning gutters, using window screens and air conditioning, and emptying containers that are filled with water such as pots, buckets, trashcans and pet bowls.
Florida state regulators approved a plan last month to release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to lessen the spread of the disease.
These mosquitoes have been modified to pass on a particular protein during mating, to ensure female offspring do not survive the next generation.