Texas Lifestyle Limits Transmission of Dengue Virus

TLDR

Urban dengue is common in most countries of the Americas, but has been rare in the United States for more than half a century. The study aimed to investigate a dengue outbreak affecting Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas, United States. The investigation was carried out in 1999 in these contiguous border cities. Serosurvey data showed higher recent dengue incidence in Nuevo Laredo despite greater Aedes aegypti abundance in Laredo, indicating that environmental factors such as air‑conditioning and human behavior, rather than climate, explain the low dengue prevalence in the United States.

Abstract

Abstract Urban dengue is common in most countries of the Americas, but has been rare in the United States for more than half a century. In 1999 we investigated an outbreak of the disease that affected Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas, United States, contiguous cities that straddle the international border. The incidence of recent cases, indicated by immunoglobulin M antibody serosurvey, was higher in Nuevo Laredo, although the vector, Aedes aegypti, was more abundant in Laredo. Environmental factors that affect contact with mosquitoes, such as air-conditioning and human behavior, appear to account for this paradox. We conclude that the low prevalence of dengue in the United States is primarily due to economic, rather than climatic, factors.