So... What steps can we take to prevent an epidemic? Apart for the search for a vaccine, what are authorities doing? Is the purpose of this article just to scare people?

Is this another H1N1 scare tactic?

Since there is no vaccine available I don't think they are trying to drum up business. It is a serious disease and preventing mosquito bites is always a good thing, especially in tropics. Using repellents and avoiding being outside after dark makes perfect sense.

Florida Department of Health - Dengue in Key West Information Page

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/medicine/arboviral/Dengue_FloridaKeys.html

Florida Department of Health - Mosquito-borne Disease Prevention Information

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/medicine/arboviral/Prevention.html

To protect yourself from mosquitoes, practice the "5 D's"

Don't go outdoors at DUSK and DAWN when mosquitoes are most active.

DRESS so your skin is covered with clothing

Apply mosquito repellent containing DEET to bare skin and clothing.

Empty containers and DRAIN standing water around your home where mosquitoes can lay eggs.

Nope, this is not another H1N1 "scare tactic." The Caribbean and South and Central America are virtually overriden with dengue. And there is Dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is a kind of mosquito-borne variant that is quite rare yet quite lethal.

We need a vaccine, but for now, three letters will destroy dengue, as it did in the US in the 1950s and 1960s: DDT. Sorry, gang, but Rachel Carson was wrong. In fact, the remanufacture of DDT is being requested by the World Health Organization. Bring back DDT and we can save millions of lives all over the planet, especially in Africa.