Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease that infects 50-100 million people annually worldwide. It is transmitted through the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes. While there is no vaccine or cure, symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, and skin rash can be treated with acetaminophen and intravenous fluids. In rare cases, dengue fever can progress to life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome involving bleeding, low blood pressure, and circulatory collapse. Prevention focuses on eliminating mosquito breeding sites and reducing exposure through protective clothing and insect repellents.

1. Dengue Fever:An Emerging Zoonotic DiseaseJ. Boren and R. L. StankoDepartment of Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife SciencesTexas A&M University-KingsvilleIntroductionThere are 50-100 million cases of dengue fever (DF) every year world-wide with about 36 million cases with symptoms [1]. 24,000 end in death (mainly children). For more than 150 years before WWII, DF was not very common. WWII led to the spread of the mosquito vector of DF. From 1950-1970 control efforts were in place in the Americas which lessened dengue fever, but since that time, the disease has spread to much of South America and to the southern parts of North America [2]. An increase in urbanization in tropical areas and an increase in world-wide travel has further spread DF.Progression of Dengue Fever The disease starts its transmission cycle when an Aedes mosquito bites an infected individual. The disease then circulates through the mosquito and, 5-12 days later, ends up in its salivary glands [4,5]. The incubation time (“extrinsic incubation period”) needed in the mosquito decreases as temperatures increase [3]. The mosquito then has a few days or weeks (the rest of its life) to transmit the disease to another susceptible individual. On d 4-6 after being bit, the fever and other symptoms begin to appear. In the less severe forms of DF, the signs will last about one week. Full recovery usually occurs within two weeks. In dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, an individual may start to recover a few days after the initial fever onset and then get worse. Usually the second round is when the more severe signs and symptoms appear. “Some [people] may feel listless, tired, and even depressed for several weeks to months after being infected” [5]. There is about a five-day window when a mosquito can bite an infected person and start the cycle over.What is Dengue Fever? Dengue fever (DF) is a virus in the Flaviviridae family and in the Flavivirus genus. It is an “arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus)” [3]. Virus is passed on mainly through mosquito vectors in the Aedes species and with genus aegypti. The Center for Disease Control [3] says that in rare cases, dengue fever can be spread by blood-to-blood contact, blood transfusions, organ transplants, and from a mother to child during birth, from an infected person to a susceptible person. There are four “serotypes (called DENV-1-2, -3, -4)” [3] of the dengue virus. Once a person becomes infected by one type, he or she will be protected from that strand for life, but that person is still susceptible to the other three forms of the virus.Treatments There is no cure for DF and there is not yet a marketable vaccine [4,5]. Since it is a virus, there are no treatments for the disease itself, but only for the symptoms. At-home treatments: Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated