Medscape A case of locally acquired dengue fever has been confirmed in a resident of Baldwin Park, California, according to a press release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. This locally acquired case of dengue is the third to be reported in California and the first to be reported by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; cases were confirmed in Pasadena and Long Beach, California, in the fall of 2023.
“Dengue is the most common insect-borne viral infection in the world, with a wide geographic spread; we know that we have mosquitos capable of carrying and transmitting the virus in the United States already, and Los Angeles county is a major epicenter for international travel and trade,” said James Lawler, MD, associate director for International Programs and Innovation at the Global Center for Health Security and professor in the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, in an interview.