Hawaii Governor David Ige declared a state of emergency on Friday amid an outbreak of dengue fever.  The state department of health reports there have been more than 250 confirmed cases on Hawaii's Big Island since September 2015.

"We are doing everything we can to be prepared, to be proactive, to prevent vector borne diseases here in Hawaii," Governor Ige told reporters, explaining that the declaration also applies to the Zika virus - although there have not been any locally-transmitted Zika cases in Hawaii.  The Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes that carry Dengue also carry Zika.

Until now, Dengue hasn't been a significant problem in the US tourism paradise Hawaii.  It was eliminated from the islands in 1945 - before it gained statehood.  In 2001, a new Tahitian strain made its way to Hawaii, but was quickly met with a widespread and aggressive response; mosquito repellent was handed out at highway checkpoints, and staff went door-to-door to educate the public on eradicating mosquitoes locally.

At the heart of that effort was Hawaii's vector control program, which monitors the size of the mosquito population and acts to control it.  But experts say that austerity budget and personnel cuts in the 2008 - 2009 recession weren't restored and significantly damaged the state's ability to control its mosquito population, setting the stage for today's outbreak.  The vector control program had its staff cut from 56 to 17, and by the end of last year was still limited to 25 - less than half from 2001.  That simply limited its ability to get out there to trap, identify, and test the archipelago's mosquitoes and possibly predict and preempt the Dengue Outbreak.

US President Barack Obama asked the republican-controlled congress for US $1.8 Billion for mosquito elimination efforts in the Americas, most of it earmarked for domestic programs.