'She Met the Wrong Mosquito': Family Says 80-Year-Old Tampa Woman Died From Dengue Fever

Florida dengue outbreak: Health officials investigate possible dengue-related death in Tampa

The Florida Department of Health is investigating the death of a Hillsborough County resident that may be associated with a dengue virus infection.

'She met the wrong mosquito': Family says 80-year-old Tampa woman died from dengue fever

For weeks we've seen confirmed cases of dengue fever in Hillsborough County. Now one Tampa family says their 80-year-old mother died after having the virus.

A Tampa woman was diagnosed with dengue fever. Within a week, she was dead.

If confirmed by public health officials, it would be Tampa Bay’s first dengue fever death in a century.

Florida Is Confronting Yet Another Surging Viral Threat: Dengue Fever

Update: The very day this post went live, came news of what might be the Tampa area’s first confirmed death from dengue fever in nearly a century. According to the Tampa Bay Times, an otherwise healthy 80-year-old woman named Gay Small contracted what is believed to be dengue locally. She had not traveled or left the city limits in more than a month, according to her daughter, and usually walked at least five miles per day in the city. The Flori…