{"id":81723,"date":"2026-09-24T15:27:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T19:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=81723"},"modified":"2026-09-24T15:27:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T19:27:34","slug":"polk-county-has-reported-its-first-case-of-dengue-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/09\/24\/polk-county-has-reported-its-first-case-of-dengue-fever\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk County has reported its first case of dengue fever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Florida Department of Health in Polk County reported its first case of dengue fever on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Health officials said the case was locally acquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The health department and Polk County Mosquito Control said they are coordinating surveillance and prevention efforts through inspections, treatment, and outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn more about preventing mosquito bites, visit the Florida Department of Health\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <strong>locally acquired<\/strong> case means the individual caught the virus directly from a local mosquito bite within Polk County, rather than traveling outside the area to a region where dengue is endemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dengue is transmitted primarily by the <strong>Aedes aegypti<\/strong> mosquito (and to a lesser extent, <em>Aedes albopictus<\/em>), which bite during the day and thrive around residential areas.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"eae7e6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #eae7e6;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"361\" height=\"277\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-6-2.webp?fit=361%2C277&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-81729 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-6-2.webp?w=361&amp;ssl=1 361w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-6-2.webp?resize=300%2C230&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aedes aegypti mosquito structure. Source: ResearchGate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Action Steps for Residents (&#8220;Drain and Cover&#8221;)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To prevent further transmission, public health officials emphasize two primary strategies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Drain Standing Water<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Around the yard:<\/strong> Empty flowerpots, birdbaths, pet water dishes, buckets, and discarded tires at least once or twice a week.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tarps &amp; covers:<\/strong> Keep boat, car, or pool covers drained so water doesn&#8217;t pool on top.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gutters:<\/strong> Clear roof gutters and downspouts of debris to ensure proper drainage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Cover Skin &amp; Openings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Insect Repellent:<\/strong> Apply EPA-registered insect repellent containing DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) when outdoors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clothing:<\/strong> Wear long sleeves and pants, especially if outdoors during peak daylight biting hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Home Security:<\/strong> Check window and door screens to make sure there are no holes allowing mosquitoes indoors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common Symptoms to Watch For<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Symptoms typically appear 4 to 10 days after a bite from an infected mosquito and include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sudden high fever<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Severe headache or pain behind the eyes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Joint and muscle aches (often called &#8220;breakbone fever&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mild bleeding (such as nose or gum bleed) or easy bruising<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rash<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you or someone in your household experiences these symptoms after being exposed to mosquitoes, consult a healthcare professional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Florida Department of Health in Polk County reported its first case of dengue fever on Thursday. Health officials said the case was locally acquired. The health department and Polk&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDlcL2ltYWdlcy02LTIud2VicD9maXQ9MzYxJTJDMjc3JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiUG9sayBDb3VudHkgaGFzIHJlcG9ydGVkIGl0cyBmaXJzdCBjYXNlIG9mIGRlbmd1ZSBmZXZlciIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.7sukarldyJUmSulWcEVg82bQ_2oS13z0FxycUbu4xjIMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA5XC9pbWFnZXMtNi0yLndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJQb2xrIENvdW50eSBoYXMgcmVwb3J0ZWQgaXRzIGZpcnN0IGNhc2Ugb2YgZGVuZ3VlIGZldmVyIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.K8Kj1dWnQKJyvNPQFrl23C_6Y_1-D8XSOG7CYNKnxhEMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[17488,169],"class_list":["post-81723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-first-case-of-dengue-fever","tag-polk-county"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81731,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81723\/revisions\/81731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}