An elderly Florida woman became the Sunshine State’s first recorded dengue fever death in 2026 after she died from the mosquito-borne disease on her 80th birthday, health officials confirmed Friday.
Gay Small died on Sept. 4 after being bitten near her home on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Her death certificate lists “dengue infection” as the official cause of death, along with comorbidities including “septic shock” and “multi-organ failure,” the report said.
“She was in good health and she worked hard to stay healthy and she walked and she ate right and you know, all the things that you’re supposed to do,” Small’s daughter, Anna Small, 55, told NBC affiliate WFLA.
“And you know, this virus just kind of comes out of nowhere. She met the wrong mosquito, and that’s it.”
Small was a globetrotter, and her daughter suspects a prior infection made this second bout fatal.
“She traveled extensively all over the world, and maybe she had dengue once and didn’t even know it,” Anna said.
“And so this might have been a second exposure, and you know, who would know that it would be so serious.”
A second exposure can pack a deadly punch, triggering a severe immune reaction, infectious disease expert Dr. Adelor Zamora told WFLA.
“Studies say that if you get it the second time, it’s even worse against the way that your immune system will react to the virus the second time around. It’s more a robust immune reaction,” Zamora said.
Small’s death is the Tampa Bay region’s first dengue fatality in nearly a century, the Times reported.
Florida health officials have confirmed 152 dengue cases statewide, with 134 clustered in Hillsborough County alone.
Pinellas and Miami-Dade counties have reported seven cases each.
With cases nearing 2023’s record peak of over 200, 2026 is currently the state’s second-worst year for dengue on record.
Because most dengue infections are asymptomatic, actual cases likely far outnumber official reports.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headache and flu-like aches.
Hillsborough County authorities are working to extinguish the outbreak cluster by spraying pesticides and checking areas with pooled water where mosquitoes breed.
Recent mosquito sampling indicates the outbreak is gradually dissipating.
