I think these skeeters were actually in the Caribbean.
That thought crossed my mind, too.
Of course, the reporter didn't think to ask that question.
A good newsperson would attempt to count days between the onset of the disease and the victims' Caribbean journeys - see if it falls in the normal incubation period, and deduce where they were bitten. Might be good information to know.
Or they could do what they did - declare an epidemic to cause a panic, and sell more papers...