Cause

When a mosquito bites a person infected with a dengue virus, the virus enters the mosquito.
Then, when the infected mosquito bites another person, the virus enters that person's
bloodstream and causes an infection.
Dengue is spread by a type of infected mosquito called the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The
mosquito bites during daytime hours, particularly around the hours of dawn and dusk.
There are four different strains of the dengue virus: DEN 1, DEN 2, DEN 3 and DEN 4. They can
all potentially cause either classic dengue or a more serious form of the disease called dengue
haemorrhagic fever (see Dengue - complications).
Growing populations and an increase in global travel have resulted in the transmission of the
virus between different populations.
Transmission of the dengue virus happens in a cycle. An infected human is bitten by a mosquito,
the infected mosquito then bites another human, and the cycle continues. Jungle animals in
Africa and Southeast Asia can also become bitten and infected with the virus, contributing to the
spread of the disease.

Dengue fever develops after a bite from a mosquito. The

mosquito acquires the virus by biting someone who is already
infected, and then transmits it to another person. Dengue fever
does not spread directly from person to person.
What

Dengue (DEN-ghee) fever is an infection that occurs after the

bite of an infected mosquito. Dengue fever occurs mostly in
tropical regions worldwide, especially in Southeast Asia, Africa
and tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean, and North, Central, and
South America. 
Ways infection

The dengue virus is spread through a human-to-mosquito-to-human cycle of transmission,

with the mosquito Aedes aegypti as the primary vector. These mosquitoes live near humans
in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Female Aedes aegypti become dengue
vectors after feeding on the blood of a person infected with the dengue virus. Infected
mosquitoes continue to transmit dengue with each blood meal for the rest of their
lives. Aedes aegypti have a complex life cycle that includes aquatic and terrestrial stages.
These mosquitoes lay their eggs inside containers, and new Aedes aegypti hatch when the
containers are filled with water. Dengue poses the greatest risk in highly populated regions
with rainy seasons where there are large populations of Aedes aegypti with a high degree of
contact between the mosquitoes and humans.