Dengue Outbreaks

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Last reviewed

July 27, 2024

Fact checked by Holly Lutmer PharmD
Fact checked by Robert Carlson, MD

Content Overview

Dengue outbreaks in Africa, Asia, Brazil, Caribbean, Costa Rica, France, India, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Spain, Thailand.

Dengue Outbreaks 2024

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Dengue is endemic in about 125 countries. According to an editorial published by The Lancet, 2024 has been the worst year for dengue cases on record. The WHO reclassified Dengue as a grade 3 emergency, requiring a major to maximal response. As of July 2024, the WHO's Dengue outbreak dashboard was updated with 90 countries reporting virus transmissions in 2024. On June 18, 2024, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an Epidemiological Alert confirming the Region of the Americas has exceeded the maximum number of dengue cases historically reported in any year compared to all previous years. As of July 25, 2024, 43 countries and territories in the Region have reported over 10.8 million Dengue cases and about 5,848 related deaths. The updated PAHO data is over 100% greater than recorded throughout 2023, when 4,617,108 cases were reported. Dengue.com provides a search-by-country capability.

Dengue Outbreak Travel Advisories

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reissued a Global Travel Health Notice on July 23, 2024, regarding dengue outbreaks in 26 countries, including the Americas, Africa/Middle Eas t, Costa Rica, and Asia/Pacific Islands.

Dengue Outbreak United States

In June 2024, the U.S. CDC updated a Health Alert Network Health Advisory to notify healthcare providers, public health authorities, and the public of an increased risk of dengue virus infections in the United States in 2024. The (CDC) reported that 48 jurisdictions, led by Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico, reported 2,869 dengue cases as of July 24, 2024. In 2023, 52 U.S. jurisdictions reported 2,343 dengue cases to the CDC. The CDC says Dengue is endemic in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

As of July 2024, the Florida Health Department (FDH) reported travel-associated and locally acquired dengue cases throughout the state. In 2024, Puerto Rico's Department of Health confirmed Dengue was endemic in San Juan. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) says mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever are found in Texas, with (17) cases reported in Collin, Dallas, Fort Bend (Houston), McMullen, Montgomery, and Travis as of July 16, 2024. There were 79 dengue cases in Texas in 2023, including one locally acquired case in Val Verde County.

Dengue Outbreaks Africa

The CDC reported in January 2024 that travelers visiting these African countries may be at increased risk for Dengue: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Senegal, and Sudan. In 2023, 171,991 dengue cases and 753 deaths were reported in African countries. Dengue circulation has been detected in more than 30 African countries. The U.S. CDC issued a Travel Health Notice in 2023, confirming Dengue is an ongoing risk in Africa.

Dengue Outbreaks Region of the Americas

The first suspected dengue-like epidemics were reported in 1635 in Martinique and Guadeloupe. The U.S. CDC reported in 2024 that countries in the Americas have severe dengue cases. On May 24, 2024, the PAHO announced Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico had the highest reported cases. The PAHO (F eb. 16, 2024) and the WHO have issued dengue travel advisories and Risk Assessments.

As of May 2024, Brazil reported over 1 million dengue cases. The Brazilian Ministry of Health reported dengue cases among pregnant women reached 5,151 in the first six weeks of 2024, compared to 1,157 in the same period in 2023. In 2023, Brazil reported about 2.9 million patients, a one-year increase of 20%. In 2023, Rio de Janeiro reported 22,959 dengue cases.

According to the Republic of Costa Rica Health Surveillance Directorate, 1,076 dengue cases were reported in 2024. Costa Rica confirmed over 24,000 dengue cases in 2023, with the Huetar Caribe and Central Sur regions presenting the most cases. As of August 4, 2023, all four dengue serotypes were registered.

Mexico has reported more than 65,000 cases of Dengue in 2024. Dengue transmission has been documented in Yucatan, Mexico, since 1979. During the first five epidemiological weeks of 2024, a 368% increase in dengue cases was reported compared to the same period in 2023. The states that reported the most cases were Quintana Roo (Cancun), Tabasco, and Guerrero. The cumulative incidence rate at EW 5 is 14.7 cases per 100,000 population. Dengue was reported in 28 of 32 Mexican states in 2023.

As of May 2024, the PAHO reported continuing widespread transmission of dengue fever in the Caribbean. The Caribbean reported over 62,000 dengue cases in 2023, a significant increase from 20,349 cases in 2022. The PAHO reported 2,050 deaths due to Dengue, resulting in a case fatality rate of 0.049% for 2023. Jamaica's Ministry of Health declared a dengue outbreak on September 23, 2023. To date, there have been 1,060 confirmed dengue infections in Jamaica. All parishes have recorded dengue cases, with Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Portland, and St. James recording the most confirmed cases.

Dengue Outbreaks Asia and Pacific Islands 2024

The U.S. CDC reported in 2024 that the countries listed in the WHO Western Pacific Region are reporting higher-than-usual dengue cases, and travelers visiting these countries may be at increased risk: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Dengue Outbreaks Eastern Mediterranean Region

Dengue and severe dengue epidemics were first reported in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region in 1998. Dengue outbreaks occur in all nine endemic countries: Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. On July 17, 2024, the WHO reported 12 autochthonous (local) cases of Dengue documented in Iran. Additionally, there have been 137 travel-related dengue cases in 2024.

Dengue Outbreaks Europe

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported on June 11, 2024, that there were 130 locally acquired dengue cases in the European Union, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, in 2023, compared to 71 in 2022. According to ECDC data, the number of dengue cases for the entire period was 73 from 2010 to 2021. Imported dengue cases increased from 1,572 in 2022 to about 4,900 in 2023.

From May through October 2023, Public Health France reported 36 indigenous cases of dengue fever. According to Santé Publique France, these cases were recorded in Paca, Occitanie, and particularly in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes. As of October 30, 2023, 68 confirmed locally transmitted dengue cases have been reported in Italy, in the province of Lodi (2 cases), and in sections of the metropolitan city of Rome. Also, 230 travel-related dengue cases have been reported.

Dengue Outbreaks Maps

As of 2024, HealthMap, the U.S. CDC, and the ECDC published dengue case maps. A recent study published by the Royal Society indicates that dengue-carrying mosquitoes are expanding their range by an average of 6.5 meters of elevation and have moved polewards by 4.7 km annually.

Dengue Disease

Dengue is a disease caused by a virus spread through mosquito bites. The disease can take up to 2 weeks to develop, with illness generally lasting less than a week. Without treatment, severe Dengue can become fatal. New research has identified pre-existing anti-DENV IgG antibodies responsible for Dengue's increased deadliness upon second exposure. "We definitively proved that it's not the presence of dengue antibodies that are a problem, but the quality of those antibodies," says Stylianos Bournazos, a research associate professor in the laboratory of Jeffrey Ravetch, the Theresa and Eugene M. Lang Professor at Rockefeller University in New York.

The CDC confirms a pregnant woman already infected with Dengue can pass the virus to her child during pregnancy, and there has been one documented report of Dengue spread through breast milk. A study published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics in April 2024 confirmed robust evidence for the negative effect of dengue infections on birth weight and documented increases in children's hospitalizations and medical expenditures for up to three years after birth.

Dengue and Zika Virus

The journal Science Translational Medicine published a study on May 29, 2024, finding that primary ZIKV infection increased the risk of disease caused by DENV3 and DENV4 but not DENV1. This finding was also factual for tertiary infections when individuals were previously infected with DENV and ZIKV but not when previously infected with ZIKV and DENV.