Florida health officials have issued a mosquito alert after two locally acquired cases of dengue fever were confirmed in the Florida Keys.

The alert comes a week after a national health advisory by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warning health care providers and the public of rising cases of dengue fever infections in the Americas.

Dengue fever is a viral infection spread by mosquitoes. The virus is thought to infect up to 400 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization, resulting in as many as 40,000 annual deaths. The disease is characterized by a high fever, often combined with aches and pains, nausea and vomiting, which can range from mild to severe (although typically only last two to seven days.)

Only about 1 in 4 people infected with dengue actually get sick and symptoms tend to develop within two weeks of getting bitten.

The disease is mostly found in tropical and subtropical climates, although local transmission has historically been reported in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California.

At the end of June, two locally acquired dengue cases were confirmed in Monroe County, bringing Florida’s total local case count to 10 since the start of 2024. So which other counties have seen confirmed local dengue cases?

This year, Miami-Dade has seen the highest number of locally acquired infections, with two in January, one in February, two in March and one in April. Hillsborough and Pasco have also seen one confirmed case each, in June and January, respectively.

While these case numbers are still very low, the Department of Health for Monroe County and Florida Keys Mosquito Control District are coordinating surveillance and prevention efforts to curb transmission in the region. These include door-to-door surveillance and mosquito-targeted insecticide spraying from trucks and the air where necessary.

The Florida Department of Health also recommend the following measures to protect yourself from mosquitoes:

• Apply insect repellents to skin and clothing (some may not be suitable for children so always read the label).
• Remove or cover any pools of standing water in which mosquitoes could breed, including in buckets, roof gutters, rain barrels, old tires and birdbaths. Even just a bottle cap of standing water is enough for mosquitoes to breed and multiply.
• Use air conditioning and window screens to keep the insects outside.

Is there a health problem that’s worrying you? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.

Before you renew your passport and book your flight to Dublin, Ireland, lets take a dive in Florida State’s football ACC opponent Georgia Tech.

The 2024 football season is only about a month away.

Florida State football will soon start fall camp to prepare for its season opener against Georgia Tech in the annual Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, at Aviva Stadium.

The game is set for Aug. 24 at noon EST on ESPN.

It is the second time two ACC teams face off in Dublin. For FSU, it will be the first time in program history that Seminoles participate in an international game.

Georgia Tech will be the second time it has played at Aviva Stadium. The last time the Yellow Jackets played in Ireland was in 2016, when they lost to Boston College, 17-16.

The ACC opener can set the bar for either side.

FSU is coming off a 13-1 season, missing the College Football Playoff. Its only loss was to Georgia in the Capital One Orange Bowl.

This season will be a clean slate for Mike Norvell, who is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Seminoles.

So, what does Georgia Tech look like? We take an early look.

Who is Georgia Tech’s head coach

Brent Key will be entering his second season with Georgia Tech. In his first year, the Yellow Jackets went 7-6 (5-3 in the ACC).

FSU-GT all-time record

15-11-1, FSU

Last meeting between FSU and Georgia Tech

FSU defeated Georgia Tech 41-16 in the last meeting on Oct. 29, 2022.

Georgia Tech’s top players

Offense:

QB Haynes King (2,842 passing yards, 27 TDs, 737 rushing yards, 10 TDs), RB Jamal Haynes (174 carries, 1,059 yards, 7 TDs), OG Joe Fusile

Defense:

DL Zeek Biggers (40 tackles, 4 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 INT), LB Kyle Efford (81 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT)

Georgia Tech’s key losses, additions

Key losses:

S Jaylon King, DL Eddie Kelly,

Key additions:

TE Ryland Goede, TE Jackson Hawes, OL Keylan Rutledge, DL Thomas Gore, DL Jordan van den Berg, DE Romello Height, DB Warren Burrell, DB Syeed Gibbs,

Remember former FSU QB and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke?

Of course, FSU fans certainly remember Weinke.

Weinke is in his third year as Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks coach, his second year as the Yellow Jackets’ co-offensive coordinator and his first year as Tech’s assistant head coach.

As a player, Weinke won the 2000 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at FSU and led the Seminoles to a national championship in 1999. He went on to be selected in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and enjoyed a seven-year career with the Carolina Panthers (2001-06) and San Francisco 49ers (2007)

Outlook on Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech was young last season but with great potential.

The Yellow Jackets played in tight ballgames and can open the season with an ACC upset. For the Seminoles, it will be an opportunity to pick up where they left off and make a statement as playoff contenders.

Florida State Seminoles 2024 Football Schedule

• Aug. 24 vs. Georgia Tech *Dublin, Ireland at 7:30 p.m., ESPN
• Sept. 2 vs. Boston College at 7:30 p.m., ESPN
• Sept. 14 vs. Memphis
• Sept. 21 vs. California
• Sept. 28 at SMU
• Oct. 5 vs. Clemson
• Oct. 18 at Duke
• Oct. 26 at (U) Miami
• Nov. 2 vs. North Carolina
• Nov. 9 at Notre Dame
• Nov. 23 vs. Charleston Southern
• Nov. 30: Florida
• Dec. 7: ACC Championship

BOLD = ACC

* = Neutral Site

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.

 

July 4th is here and it’s time to be patriotic, if only for a day. It’s time to celebrate being an American, proud of our country with all of its faults.

Independence Day marks the beginning – the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. It marks the beginning of freedom with all of its benefits and responsibilities, the beginning of a grand journey.

And it’s a day with important symbols, things like the Pledge of Allegiance, the American flag and the National Anthem.

Last week, I attended a meeting that started, as always, with the Pledge of Allegiance: “… to the flag … and to the republic for which it stands…” We tend to just mouth the words; it’s almost a reflex. Something at the beginning of meetings to get out of the way.

The symbol of the flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, is more substantive. It’s celebrated with statues (the flag planting on Iwo Jima) and paintings (Betsy Ross sewing the flag). Although the history is uncertain, we know that a flag design similar to the one used today was approved by the Continental Congress in 1777.

TRECKER

Today the flag is ubiquitous. It flies on homes, in yards, and on public and private buildings. And it’s apolitical. Both parties embrace it. Jasper Johns made a living painting different versions of it. Today the flag finds its way onto coins, stamps, tee shirts, even tattoos.

Then there’s the National Anthem. It, too, is everywhere. It’s sung before convention openings and sporting events, and it’s played whenever athletes win gold medals. I always expect to see a flyover right after “ … and the land of the free, and the home of the brave.” Unlike the flag, the anthem leaves room for interpretation. My wife always cringes when a vocalist jazzes it up.

The pledge, the flag, the anthem. They’re symbols and they’re important. But there’s more to patriotism than that.

Do woke masses on the left care less about their country than traditionalists on the right? I doubt it. Is the soccer team that disses the National Anthem less patriotic than we old-timers who revere the music? Not really. They just have a different vision of the country. Are the political lefties who want bigger government and more spending less patriotic than those on the right who want smaller government and less debt? Not at all. They just see patriotism in a different way. They pay their taxes and supply soldiers to fight just like the rest of us.

As the economists say, patriotism is fungible.

If you want the old-fashioned version, you should hearken back to the early 1900s when music made Americans proud of their heritage. George M. Cohan, the first “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” was an early practitioner. Few remember the names of his wonderful Broadway shows, but many over a certain age remember his music: “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “Over There,” “Harrigan,” “Forty-five Minutes from Broadway” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

Memories fade. I don’t remember what I had for breakfast today, but I’ll never forget the first time I heard the Cohan lyrics.

“You’re a grand old flag,
“You’re a high-flying flag
“And forever in peace may you wave.

“You’re the emblem of
“The land I love,
“The home of the free and the brave.

“Ev’ry heart beats true
“’neath the red, white and blue,
“Where there’s never a boast or brag.

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
“Keep your eye on the Grand Old Flag.”

Happy Fourth of July!

Dave Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Florida.