Open Outbreak

Should I be worried about Dengue?

Updated · Graded from official assessments; nothing here is medical advice.

Dengue · Attention: elevated

If you are in the affected area high
WHO said dengue remains a global public-health threat and assessed the risk in affected countries as high in its 30 May 2024 global update. According to WHO
If you are elsewhere in the same country or region high
WHO's 30 May 2024 global update assessed dengue risk in affected countries as high. That is the latest official broad assessment available here. According to WHO
If you are travelling there soon no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for travellers for dengue worldwide. The most relevant official notice here is WHO's 30 May 2024 global update.
If you are elsewhere in the world high
WHO assessed the risk elsewhere in the world as high in its global dengue update on 30 May 2024. According to WHO

What is happening

Dengue remains active worldwide, and WHO describes it as a global public-health threat. In its latest global outbreak update available here, published on 30 May 2024, WHO said that by 30 April 2024 more than 7.6 million cases, including more than 16,000 severe cases and more than 3,000 deaths, had been reported in 2024, with active transmission known in 90 countries. The freshest directly fetched official country-level signal is from mainland France, where Santé publique France reported on 7 October 2026 that four autochthonous dengue transmission episodes totaling six cases were under investigation as of 5 October, with prevention and control measures ongoing, alongside 437 imported dengue cases since 1 May 2026. Recent media reports also describe continued local transmission in Florida, including 368 confirmed cases and +72 cases in one week in a MedicalDaily report citing the Florida Department of Health, and worsening burden in Bangladesh, including 10 deaths in a day and 1,996 hospitalised in a Business Times report, but those figures are unverified here. Officials say response depends on mosquito surveillance and control, case detection, clinical management, and public communication, while WHO warns that under-detection and shortages of diagnostics, trained staff, and vector-control capacity are straining response.

Who is affected and how it spreads

Dengue is a viral infection spread mainly by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Aedes albopictus. It is most common in tropical and subtropical places, especially in urban and semi-urban areas where these mosquitoes are present. Many infections cause no symptoms or only a mild fever, but some people develop severe dengue with shock, heavy bleeding, or organ problems; symptoms usually begin 3 to 14 days after infection. Dengue has four virus types, and infection with one type does not give lasting protection against the others, which helps explain why outbreaks can return.

What we are watching

Updates

Sources