Dengue fever, an infection caused by mosquito bites, may become increasingly common across the Southern U.S. within the next decade.
The disease has been on the rise in several regions worldwide including Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Islands, as well as in tourist regions like the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, both Central and South America and Southeast Asia, according to the CDC.
"In the United States, local cases and limited spread of dengue does occur periodically in some states with hot, humid climates and Aedes mosquitoes," the agency's website states.
Infectious disease expert for the World Health Organization, Jeremy Farrar, said clinicians in the Southern U.S. should be prepared to care for increased cases of Dengue as climate change increases regional temperatures, making the environment more hospitable for the infection-causing mosquitoes, according to an Oct. 6 report from Reuters.
Dengue, Dr. Farrar told Reuters, is likely to become endemic in the U.S. According to the CDC, to date most outbreaks in the nation have been small-scale. The states that have experienced local spread of the infection in recent years include Texas, Florida, Hawaii and Arizona.