FAIRFAX, Virginia — Virginia health officials are monitoring for additional dengue infections after confirming the state’s first documented case acquired from a local mosquito, while stressing that the risk to residents remains low.
The Northern Virginia patient had no known travel outside the state before becoming ill. Investigators believe the person was infected after being near another Virginia resident who had recently contracted dengue during international travel.
The likely transmission chain involved a local Aedes mosquito biting the travel-related patient while that person had virus circulating in their blood, then later biting the second resident. The Virginia Department of Health says there is currently no evidence that dengue is continuing to spread locally.
VDH is working with Fairfax and Loudoun County health departments to monitor both human illnesses and mosquito populations. Doctors are also being asked to consider dengue in patients showing compatible symptoms even without recent international travel.
Dengue can cause fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, joint and muscle pain, nausea and rash. Most patients recover within about a week, although roughly 1 in 20 infections can progress to severe illness.
Local dengue transmission remains unusual in the continental United States, but mosquitoes capable of carrying the virus are established across many regions. The CDC says local transmission risk is generally highest near someone who acquired dengue while traveling.
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