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Miami-Dade Under Mosquito Borne Illness Alert After Another Case Of Dengue Fever Detected

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami-Dade is under a mosquito-borne illness alert after another case of Dengue fever has been confirmed.

Health officials said a resident is the 11th person to contract the disease locally. However, they said that none of the local cases appear to be related.

Dengue is spread, mostly by the aedes aegypti mosquito. It's the kind that loves to hang out along-side humans.

"It bites during the day, whereas most mosquitos coming out at night. It only breeds around humans. It doesn't breed in the bush or in trees or in the Everglades, it only breeds around human habitation. And it only bites humans," said Dr. William Petrie with Miami-Dade Mosquito Control.

Miami-Dade Mosquito Control tells us we all have to do what we can around our own homes to lessen the instances of mosquitos breeding.

"Remove standing water, turn over anything holding water or that can hold water. Buckets and drums are the most common things, plant pots, plant saucers."

Many people have dengue may not realize it. Symptoms are normally mild, maybe feeling like a cold. It's spread by a mosquito first biting an infected person — then passing it on.

Dengue fever can present itself as a flu-like illness with muscle aches, pain, fever, headache, eye pain, and sometimes a rash. The symptoms appear within 14 days of being bitten by an infected mosquito and can last for up to a week.

There are no vaccines to prevent infection. The CDC says that early recognition and treatment can "substantially lower the risk of medical complications and death."

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