The Florida Department of Health confirmed Friday a dengue-related death in Hillsborough County — the first such fatality tied to the county’s ongoing locally acquired outbreak, the Washington Examiner, NBC Miami (Associated Press), and local outlets reported.

State health officials did not release the person’s identity or medical details in their confirmation. Local reporting identified the decedent as Gay Small, an approximately 80-year-old Tampa woman who died at Tampa General Hospital on Sept. 4 — her birthday — according to family accounts first detailed by the Tampa Bay Times and carried by Daily Mail, WFLA, and Patch.

What local reporting says about Small’s death

The Tampa Bay Times, as cited by Daily Mail, reported that Small’s death certificate listed dengue infection along with septic shock and multi-organ failure. Her daughter, Anna Small, told WFLA that her mother had been otherwise healthy, walked regularly, and “met the wrong mosquito.” Family members said the infection was locally acquired and that Small had not recently traveled, Patch reported, citing Anna Small’s comments to the Times.

Kristi Miley, a University of South Florida College of Public Health professor, told Daily Mail the death would be Tampa Bay’s first fatality from dengue in nearly a century if confirmed as described. Florida health officials confirmed Friday that dengue was the cause of death, Daily Mail reported.

Hillsborough at the center of Florida’s surge

Florida has recorded about 152 locally acquired dengue cases so far this year, according to the Florida Department of Health figures cited by NBC Miami / AP — already the state’s second-highest annual total after nearly 200 cases in 2023. Hillsborough County accounts for the large majority: Daily Mail reported 134 of those 152 locally acquired cases in the county (~88%), while AP/NBC Miami described more than 130 locally acquired cases in Hillsborough, which typically sees only a handful.

“This is wildly unusual for us,” Chris Wilkerson, a county spokesperson, told AP.

Hillsborough mosquito-control crews have been spraying day and night and checking properties for standing water, Paolo Pecora, a senior environmental scientist with Hillsborough County Mosquito Management Services, told AP. Recent mosquito sampling had not been finding the virus — a sign new infections may be waning, Pecora said. He also urged residents to empty outdoor containers where water can pool, Daily Mail reported via the Times.

Dengue is spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Many infected people never get sick, so reported cases can undercount infections; severe cases can cause bleeding, shock, and death, AP noted. Globally, the World Health Organization has reported more than 2.2 million infections and nearly 1,200 deaths so far this year, AP said.

Sources