Dozens of New Jersey residents have been sickened by dengue fever, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warning of record numbers of cases in North and South America this summer.
At least 41 residents of the US Garden State have been infected with the potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus, according to health officials.
All of the infected had recently traveled, but the CDC did not specify where. There has been no known person-to-person transmission locally in the state.
According to the CDC, cases of local transmission have been limited to “small outbreaks” in geographic regions such as Texas, Florida and Hawaii.
According to the agency, there are six U.S. territories where there is “frequent or ongoing” dengue transmission, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau.
Dengue is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, the same species known to spread Zika, yellow fever, and several other viruses.
According to the CDC, approximately 400 million people worldwide are infected with dengue each year, of whom approximately 40,000 die from severe forms of the virus.
Dengue cases have increased worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, with record numbers of cases recorded in the Americas region.
Last year, 4.6 million cases and 4,000 deaths were reported in the region. By June 24 of this year, that number had more than doubled to 9.7 million cases.
Dengue typically causes symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, rash, and joint or bone pain, and is usually not fatal in otherwise healthy patients. However, the health service warns that about 1 in 20 infected people will develop a more serious form of the infection.
Babies under 1 year old, seniors, and people with certain medical conditions are at greater risk of developing serious illness.
The infected New Jersey residents come from 15 counties in the state. The most cases have been reported in Bergen County in the northeast, with eight infected travelers so far.
There are no known medications to treat the virus. According to the CDC, the best way to prevent infection is to avoid mosquito bites if possible and take steps to control the population. This can include getting rid of standing water outdoors, where the insect’s eggs thrive.