The agency’s chief scientist, Sir Jeremy Farrar, warned in an interview dengue fever could take hold in the southern US and southern Europe before the year 2030.
He warned warming temperatures allowing mosquitoes that can carry the disease to venture deeper into the country would drive the rise.
About 20,000 people die from dengue fever every year mostly in Asia and South America, figures show. The disease has a fatality rate of one death per 100 patients.
Every year there are about 1,200 cases recorded in the US, nearly 600 of which are locally-acquired infections.
But there are concerns the disease is spreading after California recorded its first locally-acquired infection for a decade last month.Â
Scientists say dengue fever could become endemic in the US if infected mosquitoes in Mexico manage to move further North.
They also warn infected travelers coming into the US could introduce the virus if they are bitten by local mosquitoes, which then become infected and start transmitting the disease to other people.
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