The Pasadena Public Health Department has reported a case of Dengue virus in a Pasadena resident, the first confirmed incident of the mosquito-borne disease in the entire state not associated with travel outside the United States.
Dengue viruses are spread from an infected Aedes species mosquito to people they bite, which could cause symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting, rash, and aches and pains to the eyes, muscles, joints or bones, according to the Centers for Disease and Control.
Although about half the world’s population lives in areas with a risk of dengue, local transmission within the U.S. is rare and the risk of exposure remains low, officials emphasized Friday, Oct. 21, at Pasadena City Hall.
In 2023 to date, there have been more than 500 reported cases of locally acquired dengue in the U.S. — until Friday all occurring in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
“Pasadena Public Health Department has been conducting surveillance and investigation of mosquito-borne diseases in Pasadena for years,” Dr. Matthew Feaster, PPHD Epidemiologist said.
“Our work so far, in partnership with the Vector Control District, gives us confidence that this was likely an isolated incident and that there is very low risk of additional dengue exposure in Pasadena.”
The resident who contracted the virus is recovering, Feaster noted, declining to disclose details for privacy reasons.
Just how the virus was contracted locally was a matter still be probed.
“We are continuing our investigation,” Feaster said. “It may take a lot of time to understand how that might have occurred.”
What officials do believe, Feaster said, is that the transmission that occurred had to have happened after someone went to a foreign country, got infected with dengue virus in an area where dengue was common, flew home, and then had enough virus circulating that when they were bit by a mosquito, it then transmitted to a local resident in Pasadena.
According to Feaster, the…
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