I thought Dengue fever was found only in Africa?
ping....may be of interest.
Let me be the first -
global warming?
Dengue is endemic to Mexico, and there are periodic medical watches for it in the border States.
I knew a girl who got dengue, and "flu-like" is hardly the word for it. For three weeks she was miserable with some of the most bizarre symptoms. Every joint in her body hurt and she got serious swelling around her ankles. And this, and that, and the other. About a dozen odd, unpleasant and noticeable symptoms. Very obvious.
To me, at least. Four doctors missed it, as it was in central AZ, and watch notifications had only gone to doctors in southern AZ. But I had no pre-conceived notions about what her problem might have been, so I used the Internet to figure out it was dengue. A fifth doctor confirmed my guess.
Turns out she lived in an apartment next to some railroad tracks that ran up from southern AZ. Most likely a mosquito hitched a ride.
Importantly, the first time you get dengue, it is usually this 3-week misery. But if you get it a *second* time, unpredictably, it could turn into the hemorrhagic form, like ebola, and kill you dead.
As with the other mosquito born diseases, like encephalitis and West Nile virus, they are spreading. So most likely you will be hearing more about dengue fever later.
Gee, isn't it a good thing we have a safe and effective tool like DDT to combat this?