Florida health officials have issued a mosquito-borne illness alert in Miami-Dade County and confirmed three new cases of dengue Oct. 4.
The new illnesses bring the county's total number of dengue cases to eight in 2019.
Dengue is a virus spread to humans from the Aedes mosquito, which also spreads chikungunya and the Zika virus. Common symptoms of dengue are fever, headache, eye pain, rash and nausea, among others.
The Florida Department of Health is urging county residents to use the "drain and cover" technique to mitigate the risk of dengue: drain standing water to prevent mosquitoes from multiplying; cover skin with clothing or repellent; and cover doors and windows to keep mosquitoes out.