| Yellow fever is a viral disease
transmitted between humans by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Yellow
fever occurs only in
Africa
and
South America
. A vaccine is available when traveling to endemic countries.
Luckily Yellow Fever is no longer a problem in
this area. During the late 1800's however Yellow Fever epidemics were a
common occurrence. In 1877 Fernandina Beach, population 1,632, had a
severe epidemic when 1,146 people became ill with Yellow Fever. Only 24
people died. Eleven years later in 1888 10,000 of 26,700 in Duval County
fled the area to avoid a local outbreak of the disease. |
Dengue & dengue hemorrhagic
fever (DHF) are caused by one of four closely related, but antigenically
distinct, virus serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4) of the genus
Flavivirus. Dengue is primarily a disease of the tropics, and the viruses
that cause it are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and Aedes
aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Dengue transmission has been detected three
in the last 16 years in south Texas
(1980, 1986, and 1995) and has been associated with dengue epidemics in
northern Mexico. Numerous viruses are introduced annually by travelers returning from
tropical areas where dengue viruses are endemics. A vaccine is not available. |