Southern California Confirms 11th Local Dengue Case

Throughout 2024, the world has faced a record number of dengue virus outbreaks. To alert international travelers, the World Health Organization has classified dengue as a grade 3 emergency.

However, the continental United States has remained largely unaffected by this mosquito-borne outbreak.

In the U.S., Florida has reported local dengue cases for several years, while California had only two cases in 2023.

In recent months, Los Angeles has confirmed nine local dengue cases, and San Diego has reported two, bringing the total to eleven cases in California this year.

As reported by the San Diego HHS Agency on October 25, 2024, the second locally acquired dengue case in San Diego County has been confirmed in a Vista resident who became sick and was hospitalized. This person is not associated with the Escondido case.

Nationwide, the U.S. CDC has confirmed 6,494 travel and local-related cases in 50 states this year. Many of these local dengue cases (3,877) have been reported in Puerto Rico, with the San Juan region reporting about 1,400 cases.

And in the Region of the Americas, which includes the U.S., over 12 million cases and 7,289 related deaths in the Americas in 2024.

While Dengue is a vaccine-preventable disease, the U.S. is one of a limited number of countries not offering a vaccine at the end of 2024.