For the first time this year, Seminole County is under a mosquito-borne illness advisory, and the reason is a dengue case caught from a local mosquito. Thursday, October 22nd, and this is Dengue Fever Watch. Three items today: that Seminole case, a locally acquired case confirmed in Manatee County, and the latest regional numbers from the Pan American Health Organization.
Brody Wooddell, reporting for WFTV on Wednesday:
Health officials issued a mosquito-borne illness advisory Wednesday after confirming a human case of locally acquired dengue in Seminole County. The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County and Seminole County Mosquito Control are coordinating surveillance, prevention and control efforts, according to the announcement.
If I live in Seminole, what do I actually know about where this happened? Very little so far. WFTV says officials didn't release the patient's condition, where in the county the infection happened, or when it was identified. A second WFTV report, by James Tutten, says Seminole had already been watching its mosquitoes because of the cases next door in Orange County. And Orange is still spraying from the air? It is. WFTV reported that Orange County Mosquito Control resumed aerial treatments over parts of Apopka and Pine Hills at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with another round planned for Saturday, October 24th. The county health department counted five locally acquired cases in Orange as of October 12th. And on Citrus, from yesterday: the College of American Pathologists says the two new cases make three locally acquired cases there since August 24th. For Seminole, the health department asks residents to prevent bites and clear standing water. Questions go to DOH-Seminole at 407-665-3243.
The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County, in a notice dated Tuesday:
The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County (DOH-Manatee) is informing residents of a confirmed human case of locally-acquired dengue. DOH-Manatee and Manatee County Mosquito Control are coordinating surveillance and prevention efforts by source reduction and aerial spraying.
The title says the department "updates" its advisory. So Manatee already had one? That's what the wording suggests. This notice revises an existing advisory instead of creating a new one. It's brief, too. It doesn't say where the person lives, when they got sick, or whether this case is already in the state's count through October 10th. Aerial spraying is part of the response, and that's hard to hear right now. Manatee's mosquito district lost a pilot last week. Yes. WTSP reported that the pilot's helicopter hit a radio tower. Pasco's mosquito control director, Adriane Rogers, told Tampa Bay 28 on Tuesday that larvicide pilots sometimes fly about 30 feet above the treetops. DOH-Manatee's advice for residents is the basics: take precautions against mosquito bites.
The Pan American Health Organization, in a release Wednesday:
In an epidemiological update published on October 20, PAHO reported that as of mid-September, 1.69 million suspected dengue cases had been reported in the Region, including 3,413 severe cases and 571 deaths.
That's a huge number. Is it going up or down? Down overall. PAHO says reported cases are 58 percent lower than at the same point in 2025. But the drop isn't even. In recent weeks, cases rose in countries in the Andean, Central American and Caribbean subregions. Keep in mind these are suspected cases across the hemisphere, which is a much broader definition than Florida's confirmed, locally acquired count. The two numbers can't be compared. If I'm booking a Caribbean trip, should I read this as a travel advisory? No. It's addressed to governments. PAHO wants countries to strengthen surveillance, lab diagnosis and mosquito control, and to get clinics ready to spot dengue warning signs early. It points to an El Niño that's expected to strengthen and South America's peak season coming up. PAHO also says all four types of the dengue virus have circulated in the Americas this year. And Puerto Rico? Andrea Perozo Pardo, writing for a Puerto Rico health publication, cites provisional CDC data showing 1,249 dengue cases on the island so far in 2026. That number may be revised. In Florida, Dr. Jonathan Day's weekly analysis for Clarke says all 20 dengue-positive mosquito pools this year were one species and one virus type, type 2, at least for now.
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Coming up: the state report for October 11th through 17th, which WTSP says usually comes out Thursday or Friday. We'll check whether Seminole, Citrus and Brevard are in it. As for the Tampa Bay emergency orders that ran through today, none of our sources lists a new end date. Today's sources are linked in the episode notes. Dengue Fever Watch is a Lantern Podcast. Until next episode, take care.