Florida reports more than 250 local dengue cases in 2026

Florida health officials have reported more than 250 locally acquired dengue cases in 2026, with most in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa. Available state and medical-journal information indicates the outbreak is the largest recorded in a continental U.S. state in a calendar year since at least the 1940s, although federal officials say surveillance data are limited. The tally makes Florida’s outbreak larger than the state’s previous worst year, 2023, when just under 200 locally spread cases were reported. It is also nearing the 264 locally acquired cases recorded in Hawaii over six months in 2015 and 2016, described in the available reporting as the largest outbreak in a U.S. state since the 2009-2010 cases in Key West. Most of Florida’s locally acquired cases have been in Hillsborough County. Officials in Hillsborough and surrounding counties have declared local emergencies, and mosquito-control workers in the Tampa area have been spraying to reduce the insect population and checking properties for standing water where mosquitoes can breed.