First Locally Acquired Dengue Case Reported In San Diego County

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego County health officials are investigating the first-ever case of locally acquired dengue virus.

An Escondido resident became sick with the mosquito-transmitted disease, but did not travel to an area where the virus is common, according to the county. No additional locally acquired cases have been identified, although there have been at least 49 reported cases of travel-related dengue this year in the county.

To prevent the disease from spreading, County Vector Control began spraying this weekend for mosquitoes at about 170 homes in Escondido. Treatments started on Friday and will continue through Thursday.

"While the risk of widespread transmission of dengue remains low in San Diego County, County Public Health and Vector Control are working closely to respond quickly to prevent mosquitoes from spreading the illness in this area," said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, the county's interim public health officer.

Vector Control did similar treatments in Oceanside in September and in the Mount Hope area of San Diego in July of this year. Both treatments were initiated as a precaution to prevent potential local spread of dengue due to travel-associated dengue cases and the high numbers of Aedes mosquitoes in the neighborhoods.

Dengue is a tropical viral disease that is not commonly found in the U.S. Since the invasive Aedes mosquitoes were first detected in the county in 2014, there had been no locally acquired case of dengue until now.

Los Angeles County recently reported five cases of locally contracted dengue this year. Long Beach and Pasadena had their first cases of locally acquired dengue in late 2023.

Dengue is spread by mosquitoes when a mosquito bites an infected person and then feeds on another person.

It can take four to seven days for someone who is bitten by a mosquito infected with dengue to start feeling symptoms. The most common symptoms are fever, chills, aches and pains, nausea, vomiting and rashes.

Symptoms can be moderate and last two to seven days. Most people recover after about a week. Symptoms can also become severe and deadly, which include shock and respiratory distress and can require hospitalization. There are no specific medicines to treat dengue.