Can cold front stop Dengue Fever spread?

Well, tonight Tampa Bay remains the epicenter of a nationwide dengue fever outbreak. Hundreds of cases have been reported in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. But will an upcoming cold front help stop the spread? Fox 13's Blake Divine is live for us in Tampa tonight. We're really looking forward to this cold front, obviously for more reasons than getting to wear sweaters. We'd really like to get rid of these skeeters too, Blake. Absolutely, Ali. So this upcoming cold front is going to provide some much needed relief when it comes to those pesky mosquitoes and slowing them down. However, infectious disease experts worry what could happen once the temperatures grow up, go up. And obviously, this is one of those things we have been dealing with over the past few months here, but Hillsborough County, unfortunately, is the epicenter nationwide in Florida. Thus far, 524 cases locally acquired thus far this year, and that number climbs to over 900 cases when you include people infected while traveling. Hillsborough County, 407 cases in Pinellas County, 80 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, Pasco County has four confirmed cases and Polk has one. We caught up with the chief epidemiologist at UF Health asking her how much this cold front could help. The lower temperature helps because the mosquitoes will be less active. So 50 degrees, that's good. But as far as actually killing off the population, you need at least one night of a good freeze. And obviously, keep in mind, this virus primarily spread by a particular Egyptian, Egyptian mosquito, which thrives in Florida's warm climate, which is why health officials are urging residents to use mosquito repellent and remove standing water. As for Hillsborough County, they are keeping that local emergency order in place here in Hillsborough County up until Thursday because of the dengue cases. I know we have seen such a rise in the cases, Blake, what are some of the warning signs that you might have dengue fever? Absolutely. I had to ask this myself because I'm typically getting bit outside when we're doing these type of live reports. And I said, what are the symptoms I have to look for when it comes to dengue? So we're talking rashes, headaches, fever, aches, all of those. If you have a combined symptoms, you're gonna wanna go to urgent care. They can do a test. The one bad thing is that you're not going to be able to treat them. There's no over-the-counter medication that directly affects dengue. They're going to advise you to have fluids, take some Tylenol, have some rest, and hopefully the symptoms obviously improve, Allie. All right, Blake Divine, live for us in Tampa tonight. Blake, thank you.