Florida’s 524-case dengue outbreak centered in Tampa Bay raises urgent travel insurance questions for Canadian snowbirds

Florida's outbreak is the largest in the continental U.S. in several decades, according to the Associated Press, the U.S.-based news agency.

Cases and health response

Data from state health departments and medical journals suggest it marks the most locally acquired cases in a calendar year for any U.S. state since at least the 1940s.

The outbreak is centralized in one of the most popular destinations for Canadian snowbirds: the Tampa Bay area. As of Oct.

31, Hillsborough County had recorded 407 local cases and Pinellas County 80.

Ten other counties have also reported cases, including Orange (Orlando), Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.

In September, Florida confirmed its first dengue death of the year: an 80-year-old Tampa woman who passed away on Sept. 4.

Dengue is contracted through bites from mosquitoes carrying the virus, not from person-to-person contact.

Outbreak background

Florida's previous worst year was 2023, when just under 200 cases were reported. This year's count is already more than double that.