Orange County Dengue Cases Rise to Five as Aerial Spraying Is Planned in Apopka

Orange County now has five locally acquired dengue cases, and county mosquito control officials are preparing aerial spraying around Apopka, where most of the cases have been found. The Florida Department of Health in Orange County reported two new cases Monday, Oct. 12. Both are in the Apopka area, which officials say suggests the virus is spreading there. Statewide, Florida's local dengue outbreak has reached a record 296 cases this year.

Locally acquired means the patient was infected by a mosquito in Florida rather than while traveling. Dengue does not spread directly from person to person. It is carried mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can pick up the virus by biting an infected traveler and then pass it to other people.

Where Orange County's cases are

According to WKMG News 6, the two new cases are close to earlier local cases. Four of Orange County's five cases are in the Apopka area and one is in Pine Hills. Orange County Mosquito Control said the clustering in Apopka indicates dengue appears to be spreading locally.

Orange County's first local case this year was announced Sept. 2. By mid-September the county count had reached three, with the two newest cases also traced to Apopka, according to FOX 35 Orlando. That prompted county officials to issue a mosquito-borne illness alert. WUSF reported the alert is the county's first since 2011, when one was issued during a West Nile virus outbreak.

"DOH-Orange, in collaboration with Orange County Mosquito Control, continues to conduct surveillance and implement targeted prevention strategies within affected communities," Kent Donahue, a health department spokesperson, said Monday. He added that response efforts "have been further strengthened through enhanced mosquito control measures, including the planned deployment of aerial spraying."

Aerial spraying planned in Apopka

Mosquito Control is already working on the ground in the Apopka neighborhood where the latest cases were found. Crews are going door to door near case locations to inspect and treat containers that hold water, target larvae and adult mosquitoes, and spray at night. They are also trapping mosquitoes near the cases and testing them for the virus. So far, none of the tested mosquitoes have shown active dengue virus, the agency told WKMG.

The county has not announced exactly when or where the aerial treatments will happen. Mosquito Control said residents in treatment zones will get at least 48 hours' notice through OC Alert, social media and the county website, and spraying will start after sunset.

Officials say the job comes down to backyards. Aedes aegypti usually travels less than about 600 feet from where it hatches and breeds in small containers around homes, such as flowerpots, buckets, tires and children's toys. Orange County Mosquito Control says the species can even breed in a bottle cap of water. "One little container in your yard can be breeding hundreds of mosquitoes, if not thousands of mosquitoes," a Mosquito Control official told WKMG.

In September, Mosquito Control manager Steve Harrison told FOX 35 that the county was going beyond federal guidance. "While CDC guidance calls for targeted treatment of areas of concern, we are taking additional measures," he said, citing rising dengue cases elsewhere in Florida.

A record statewide outbreak

The Florida Department of Health's weekly arbovirus report for Sept. 27 through Oct. 3 counted 44 new locally acquired cases that week, bringing the 2026 total to 296 cases in eight counties. WUSF reported that is the most in Florida's history, and WLRN reported the outbreak is believed to be the largest in the continental U.S. since the 1940s. Last month the state reported its first dengue death of the outbreak, an 80-year-old Tampa woman, according to WUSF.

The state's county breakdown in that report, with Orange updated to Monday's local count:

The weekly report does not yet include Orange County's two newest cases. By onset date, 21 of the statewide cases began in July, 154 in August and 121 in September. Of the cases tested for virus type, most were DENV-2. Health officials have also found the virus in 20 mosquito pools this year, most in Hillsborough County.

Travel is still the main way the virus gets into Florida. The state has recorded 262 travel-associated dengue cases this year, 215 of them linked to travel to Cuba, according to the same report. Orange County had seven of the travel cases.

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo briefly addressed the outbreak at a public hearing in Lake Mary on Thursday, Oct. 8, held on the state's proposal to drop school-entry vaccine requirements. "We work very aggressively to address illness in Florida. We're very deeply engaged right now in the dengue outbreak that we have not too far from here," he said, according to WUSF.

Symptoms and prevention

Many infections go unnoticed. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about three in four people infected with dengue have no symptoms, which makes the real spread hard to track. When symptoms do appear, usually within about two weeks of a bite, they can include fever, severe muscle and joint pain, pain behind the eyes and sometimes a rash. The severe bone and joint pain gave dengue the nickname "breakbone fever." Other symptoms can include nausea, bleeding gums, rapid breathing, severe abdominal pain and a fever as high as 104 degrees, and in the worst cases dengue can be fatal.

Health officials ask residents to:

• Tip, toss or cover anything that holds standing water.
• Repair torn screens on windows, doors and porches.
• Use an EPA-registered insect repellent.
• Wear long sleeves and pants when possible.

Anyone with symptoms can call DOH-Orange at 407-858-1420.

What's next

Orange County will announce aerial spraying times and areas at least 48 hours in advance through OC Alert and the county's website and social media. The next state arbovirus report should show whether new cases in Hillsborough and Pinellas are slowing and whether Orange's cases continue to climb. Until then, health officials are asking residents to keep emptying standing water around their homes.