Circulation of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses Confirmed in Cuba

The Dengue virus, endemic to Cuba, is currently circulating in 12 of the country's provinces, 36 municipalities, and 44 health areas, alongside the Chikungunya virus, which is transmitting in eight territories, health authorities confirmed today.

At a press conference, Cuban Vice Minister of Public Health Carilda Peña specified that there is currently no evidence of Dengue presence in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, the western province of Mayabeque, or the eastern provinces of Holguín and Granma.

Meanwhile, Chikungunya is present in eight provinces: Havana, the western provinces of Artemisa and Matanzas, the central provinces of Cienfuegos and Villa Clara, and the eastern provinces of Granma, Guantánamo, and Holguín. She emphasized that the Oropouche virus is only appearing in sporadic cases.

Peña considered it necessary to clarify that the Chikungunya virus, also transmitted by the same mosquito vector and sharing some clinical commonalities, is not associated with cases that progress to severe or critical stages of the illness or death.

In contrast, Dengue can indeed lead to these severe stages of the disease. She detailed that, so far in 2025, three people have died in Cuba from this cause.

The Vice Minister provided an assessment of the current epidemiological situation in the western province of Matanzas, located 100 kilometers east of the capital, which has been affected by the presence of Chikungunya since last June.

Transmission there is now in sporadic cases, and there is no ongoing Chikungunya outbreak, she stressed. "However, upon studying the cases, we were able to find that what exists is Dengue."

At another point in the conference, the Vice Minister recalled that the Dengue virus is present in the Caribbean nation year-round, as tropical conditions favor the presence and spread of the transmitting vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, including high temperatures and humidity.

However, during specific periods, such as the end of May and beginning of June, as well as September and October, rainfall occurs which favors the proliferation of the vector, if the designed control measures for its prevention are not taken into account.

When offering details on other diseases, she emphasized that nine respiratory viruses are currently circulating in the country; there is an increase in acute diarrheal diseases, common during rainy seasons; and other enteric viruses (fecal-oral transmission) and Hepatitis A are also present.