Dengue and Chikungunya: Why is Cuba Facing a Mosquito Virus Crisis?

The chikungunya epidemic has spread across Cuba. Fuel shortage, driven by U.S. sanctions, makes fumigation more difficult.

TRANSCRIPT

The Cuban state fumigates homes and neighborhoods to control mosquitoes.

“To all residents, fumigation is being carried out today,” announces a woman through a megaphone as she walks down the street. “Good morning.”

When a mosquito-borne virus was reported, buildings were, until recently, fumigated the next day. But the system is buckling.

“They should have done this before it spread so much, for God’s sake,” says a woman as her home is being fumigated.

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health has declared an epidemic. It estimates that one-third of Cubans have contracted mosquito-borne diseases this year: dengue, oropouche, and chikungunya.

“Chikungunya is really hitting people hard here,” says a resident.

“Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Chikungunya too,” explains another.

“Did you have it?” asks the journalist.

“Yes, of course,” responds a man. “I lost 26 pounds.”

“They say you get intense muscle pain. That happened to me. Dizziness, nausea,” recalls another resident.

“Fever. Severe diarrhea,” adds a resident .

“Several people have died,” says another voice. “No one knows if it was from the virus or from other conditions they had.”

“People are really worried,” another resident explains, “because they don’t even know which virus they have.”

“We’re facing a critical epidemiological situation,” said Dr. Oscar Ortega, a pediatric specialist at Cerro Children’s Hospital in Havana. “Around mid-September, Havana began to see a surge in patients with fever, mostly with chikungunya, as well as dengue.”

“Without running tests, it’s very difficult to distinguish between dengue and chikungunya,” Ortega added.

“My daughter started with a high fever that was very difficult to manage,” recalled one parent. “Despite the medications, it wouldn’t come down. After that came the vomiting, the abdominal pain, and the rash. Everything happened very fast, in less than 24 hours.”

“She started with a fever, then vomiting and diarrhea,” said another parent. “I took her to William Soler Pediatric Hospital. They transferred her here because it was possibly dengue. She ended up in intensive care because fluid developed in her lungs and abdomen.”

“It’s a very complex situation,” one parent continued. “Weather conditions and waste management systems are not in their best moment, and there has been a surge in cases.”

“People say chikungunya is the most common,” added another. “I thought that’s what it was, because everyone in my neighborhood had it.”

“Most patients don’t develop serious complications,” Dr. Ortega explained. “Those who do are usually people with underlying conditions, like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, or other chronic illnesses.”

Newborns, people with chronic illnesses, and older adults are most at risk.

“It’s an illness that causes high fever, 39 or even 40 degrees Celsius, and intense joint pain,” said Dr. Jorge Jiménez, head of intensive care at Salvador Allende Hospital.

“In our hospital, we’ve had a daily admission rate of between six and 15 cases,” said Dr. Mylene Vázquez, director of Salvador Allende Hospital. “The protocol is to admit patients with comorbidities, as well as vulnerable people and those who live alone. Everyone else goes through it at home.”

Cuba reported its first chikungunya cases in Santiago de Cuba province in 2014. That outbreak was contained. In July 2025, chikungunya reappeared, this time in Matanzas province, and it has since spread throughout the island.

“As temperatures rise, the mosquito’s biological cycle speeds up,” said Leonel Valdés González, director of Havana’s Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Microbiology. “That means mosquitoes reproduce more quickly.”

“At first, we issued an alert saying it was a mild illness,” Valdés González recalled. “But not all bodies are the same, not all populations are the same. And the truth is, we’ve had cases that became complicated and resulted in fatal outcomes.”

The Ministry of Public Health published death tolls in November, months after the outbreak peaked. According to official figures, 44 people have died. Twenty-nine of them were children.

“If the healthcare system appears to be strained today, it’s not because Cuba forgot how to do public health,” said Dr. Samira Addrey, a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba. “This arbovirus wave is not happening in a vacuum. It arrives at a moment of severe economic strangulation.”

U.S. “maximum pressure” sanctions cost Cuba billions of dollars every year. They have gutted the health sector’s budget for equipment, medicines, and basic supplies.

“When a system built on preventative medicine loses transportation, electricity, medications, reagents, even mosquito control supplies, outbreaks spread faster and hit harder,” Addrey explained. “Primary care doctors are still there, but they lack the supplies.”

“Cuban doctors are doing everything they can,” she added. “Their struggle is not against the virus alone, but against a global policy designed to make crisis permanent.”

“Medications are expensive,” said Dr. Mylene Vázquez. “The healthcare system is free, but it has a cost. A cost for the state, for the country, for all the effort it takes to provide the resources needed to save patients.”

“Right now, we are not producing medications because we can’t buy raw materials,” said Valdés González. “Every time we try to make a transaction, we face pressure and interference. The blockade is designed to push the system toward collapse.”

The health ministry used to fumigate frequently during the rainy season. But this has markedly decreased due to fuel shortages. In 2025, Cuba’s fuel imports fell by 35 percent.

“Before, they fumigated more often,” said a resident. “But the country is facing a fuel crisis.”

“It’s been a year or two since they last fumigated here,” said another.

“Here, everyone was sick, and they hadn’t fumigated,” added a third.

“In our country, there is political will to prioritize public health,” said Valdés González. “But it is very costly.”

“These machines use eight liters of diesel and two liters of gasoline daily,” he explained, “and we are talking about 759 machines.”

“Health should never be used as a weapon,” Dr. Addrey concluded. “Yet this is exactly what is happening. The blockade is a form of structural violence, and arboviruses thrive in the gaps it creates.”