- The public should eliminate standing water including in buckets and rain barrels where mosquitoes can breed
- All of the infected people in Florida have traveled to the Caribbean or South America and could have become infected there
- Epidemiologists are worried that mosquitoes in Florida may have picked up the diseases by biting infected people, which could kick off an epidemic
- 'The threat is greater than I've seen in my lifetime,' said Walter Tabachnick, director of the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory
Two mosquito-borne diseases - dengue fever and chikungunya - are posing a serious threat to Florida and residents should take steps to control mosquito populations to try to limit the danger, a leading health expert said on Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Health, in its latest weekly report, said that through last week dengue fever had been confirmed in 24 people in Florida and chikungunya confirmed in 18 people. Both are viral diseases spread by mosquito bites.
All of the infected people in Florida have traveled to the Caribbean or South America and could have become infected there, according to Walter Tabachnick, director of the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory in Vero Beach, which is part of the University of Florida.
Epidemiologists are worried that mosquitoes in Florida may have picked up dengue fever and chikungunya by biting infected people, which could kick off an epidemic in the state
A Dominican doctor observes Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which can spread the dengue fever
Epidemiologists are worried that mosquitoes in Florida may have picked up the diseases by biting infected people, which could kick off an epidemic in the state, Tabachnick said.
'The threat is greater than I've seen in my lifetime,' said Tabachnick, who has worked in the field for 30 years.
'Sooner or later, our mosquitoes will pick it up and transmit it to us. That is the imminent threat,' he added.
Tabachnick urged the public to eliminate standing water including in buckets and rain barrels where mosquitoes can breed.
'If there is public apathy and people don't clean up the yards, we're going to have a problem,' Tabachnick said.
Walter Tabachnick, director of the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory, said that the threat is greater than he has seen in his lifetime
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2649672/Florida-residents-measures-lessen-mosquito-population-deemed-IMMINENT-THREAT-24-fall-ill-fatal-dengue-fever-18-contract-chikungunya.html#ixzz33puSM2Hb
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