Dengue Fever Creeps Back Into US — and Climate Change Isn't Helping

"Dengue fever is nasty. Transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, dengue infects an estimated 220 million people a year — 2 million of whom develop a severe form called dengue haemorrhagic fever, which has no known cure. And it can be extremely painful. ...

Dengue fever is most common in the poorer areas of Latin America and Asia, and cases were virtually unheard even in the tropical reaches of North America, where anti-mosquito efforts were able to keep the fever at bay. But as Greg Allen reported today for NPR, that's begun to change. The first native cases of dengue fever in Florida in more than 70 years began appearing in Key West in 2009, and they're becoming more common."

Bryan Walsh reports for TIME June 10, 2011.

Source: TIME, 06/13/2011