Dengue fever cases surge in Florida as officials intensify mosquito control efforts

Along the humid streets of Tampa, helicopters now trace the skyline with insecticide mist — a sign that dengue fever has crossed a threshold Florida has long hoped to avoid. Hillsborough County is no longer contending with travelers returning from tropical regions, but with a virus taking root in its own communities, passed from mosquito to neighbor in familiar backyards and clogged gutters. The state's surgeon general has moved from routine guidance to urgent public warning, and the question now is whether the speed of the response can outpace the quiet, persistent work of the Aedes aegypti m