The Florida Department of Health in Broward County has confirmed a human case of locally acquired dengue fever.
It is the first locally acquired case in Broward this year, meaning that the infected person was bitten by an infected mosquito in Florida.
Dengue is not contagious, and is transmitted by mosquitos. it can present as a flu-like illness with severe muscle aches and joint pain, fever, and sometimes a rash. Symptoms appear around two weeks after someone is bitten and can last two to three weeks.
To date, more than 250 cases of locally acquired dengue fever have been reported in seven Florida counties this year.
Florida’s dengue outbreak is believed to be the largest in the continental U.S. since the 1940s.
DOH-Broward and Broward County Mosquito Control are coordinating surveillance, prevention and control efforts.
READ MORE: Florida's dengue outbreak is now the largest in the continental US in decades
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