São Paulo's Dengue Outbreak Setting New Records

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently updated its Dengue fever outbreak data dashboard, highlighting the continued surge of cases in 2025.

Within the Americas, the Federative Republic of Brazil's state of São Paulo is on track to exceed last year's record numbers.

As of April 8, 2025, São Paulo has reported approximately 522,000 dengue cases and 390 related fatalities, with an additional 475 deaths currently under investigation by the health ministry.

For all of 2024, over 9.6 million dengue cases and 5,441 related fatalities were reported throughout Brazil.

While Dengue has become endemic in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, most cases in the United States are travel-related.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on April 2, 2025, that 1,346 travel-related Dengue cases and one local case have been reported in 30 jurisdictions this year.

Most of these cases were identified in southern Florida.

With over 6 million people visiting Brazil in 2024, and many international travelers returning to the U.S., identifying Dengue infections has become a challenge.

To offer updated guidance on Dengue testing, the CDC recently issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Update to provide additional information to healthcare providers about the ongoing risk of dengue virus infections and updates to testing recommendations in the United States.

The CDC urges healthcare providers to continue taking steps to prevent, detect, diagnose, and respond to Dengue, as described in the June 2024 HAN Health Advisory (CDCHAN-00511).

Currently, the CDC does not recommend any Dengue vaccine in the U.S. However, second-generation Dengue vaccines are available in about 40 countries.