Definition

Dengue fever is a disease caused by one of a number
of viruses that are carried by mosquitoes. These mosquitoes
then transmit the virus to humans.

Description

The virus that causes dengue fever is called an
arbovirus, which stands for arthropod-borne virus. Mosquitoes
are a type of arthropod. In a number of regions,
mosquitoes carry this virus and are responsible for passing
it along to humans. These regions include the Middle
East, the far East, Africa, and the Caribbean Islands. In
these locations, the dengue fever arbovirus is endemic,
meaning that the virus naturally and consistently lives in
that location. The disease only shows up in the United
States sporadically.

In order to understand how dengue fever is transmitted,
several terms need to be defined. The word