Dengue Outbreaks Continue in 23 Countries

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reissued its Level 1—Practice Usual Precautions, Travel Health Advisory, which highlights Dengue virus outbreaks.

On December 16, 2024, the CDC confirmed that Dengue is mosquito-transmitted and identified 23 countries reporting increased disease cases this year. However, not all countries with Dengue transmission are on this updated CDC list.

Therefore, since Dengue is a year-round risk, international travelers should practice prevention measures for all outbreak areas.

For example, the United States' southern neighbor, Mexico, has reported over 543,000 Dengue cases in 2024.

Within the U.S., the CDC recently confirmed 8,270 travel-related and locally-acquired Dengue cases from 52 jurisdictions, led by Florida (Miami), California (Los Angeles), New York, and Texas.

Although Dengue is a vaccine-preventable disease, no U.S. FDA-approved vaccine was available in late December 2024. However, several vaccine candidates, such as Butantan Institute Butantan-DV, are approaching approval in various countries.