Inside the fight against mosquitoes spreading dengue fever in Florida - Tampa Bay Times

They’re hungry for blood.Lurking in backyards, breeding in birdbaths, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes hunt human sweat and fly low, aiming for your ankles. They’re so bold, they strike during daylight. So small they can slip through screens. Their mouths can saw into your skin, search for a vein and spit in a lethal virus.This summer, the most dangerous species of the world’s deadliest animal has invaded Tampa Bay — causing the area’s biggest outbreak of dengue fever in almost 100 years.The disease often goes undetected. But in some patients, it can cause organ failure, bleeding from eyes and ears, high fever, severe bone aches, even death.For decades, doctors thought dengue fever had been eradicated in the United States, with cases only being brought in from tropical countries.But since July, 209 Floridians have been hospitalized with dengue fever — far more than in any other state.