(Bloomberg) -- Los Angeles County public health authorities are dealing with a fourth case of dengue reported in just over two weeks, as evidence mounts that the mosquito-borne infection is circulating in the area for the first time.
None of the four patients recently traveled to areas where dengue regularly occurs, suggesting the virus is spreading locally via infected mosquitoes, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. The infection disclosed Wednesday isn’t related to a cluster of three cases announced earlier this month, officials said.
Global rates of dengue, sometimes called breakbone fever because of the pain it inflicts on patients, are at their highest ever this year. While the mosquito that carries the pathogen in other parts of the world is common in LA County, dengue hasn’t previously been transmitted there by infected insects, officials said.
“We are seeing the local transmission of dengue, which is unprecedented in Los Angeles County,” said Muntu Davis, the county’s health officer. “Preventing mosquito bites and mosquito breeding is the best way stop the ongoing local transmission of dengue.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert in June telling health-care providers to be on the lookout for dengue as infections surged in many parts of the Americas. Local transmission has been reported in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida in 2024, the agency said.
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