Seminole County's first locally acquired dengue case of the year has been tied to the Winter Springs area, county emergency officials said Thursday, and lab results are pending on more possible infections.
The patient is not a Winter Springs resident. Alan Harris, who directs Seminole County Emergency Management, told WKMG News 6 the person works in the area on a regular basis and recalled being bitten by mosquitoes while on the job there.
"The individual that doesn't actually live here works here regularly in the Winter Springs area and did have some mosquito bites while working around his place of operation," Harris said. The county has not released the person's identity or condition.
A locally acquired case means the infection came from a mosquito in Florida rather than during travel. The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County issued a mosquito-borne illness advisory on Wednesday, Oct. 21, FOX 35 reported, adding that the department is coordinating tracking and prevention with the county's Mosquito Control program.
Earlier reports on the advisory did not say where in the county the case occurred.
More samples at the lab
Harris said other suspected cases are being tested. "We already have a couple more potential cases," he told the station, adding that further steps would follow if the lab confirms they were acquired locally.
He linked the risk to the recent wet weather, which gives mosquitoes more places to breed. According to the county, county crews sprayed fog during September over more than 32,000 acres and put down larvicide, and the county also checks traps and tests sentinel chickens for a range of viruses. Harris said that monitoring is being stepped up.
