Dengue and chikungunya figures with their dates, why Cuba has no malaria, the yellow fever certificate rule, and which mosquitoes bite by day or night.
What the newest dengue figures show, and what they do not
Start with the regional picture, because it sets the tone. The Pan American Health Organization updated its dengue report on 23 October 2026 with data to epidemiological week 39 of 2026. It records 1,813,577 suspected dengue cases across the Americas, a figure it says is 55% below the same period in 2025 and 62% below the five-year average. It counts 614 deaths, a case fatality rate of 0.034%, and 565,945 laboratory-confirmed cases. In week 39 alone it counts 28,008 new suspected cases, including 76 classified as severe dengue and 10 deaths. One detail matters for anyone heading to Cuba. The week 39 table has 21 country rows and Cuba is not among them, so that report gives no Cuban figure at all.
Cuba's own numbers: dengue and chikungunya with their dates
PAHO's update of 20 October 2026 gives Cuba its own lines. For dengue, it reports 1,746 suspected cases between weeks 1 and 25 of 2026, of which 62 were confirmed, with no deaths. Incidence was 16 per 100,000 population, and cases appeared in ten provinces. Three serotypes circulated, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4, with DENV-2 predominant. Chikungunya is the starker story. PAHO reports 51,217 suspected cases in Cuba in 2025 as of week 53, including 1,959 confirmed and 46 deaths, with transmission confirmed in 15 provinces and 147 municipalities. In 2026, as of week 26, Cuba reported 2,716 cases, including 254 confirmed and six deaths. Note the cut-off weeks: these are not winter figures, and PAHO frames the regional outlook around intensifying El Niño conditions and South America's approaching peak season, not the Caribbean's.
Why there is no malaria to plan around
Malaria is the question many travellers ask first, and here the answer is clear. The World Health Organization's list of countries certified malaria-free records Cuba as certified in 1973, and that certification is the basis for saying the country has no malaria transmission. Certification is not casual: WHO states that countries need at least three consecutive years of zero indigenous cases before they may apply. Two independent country pages agree by omission. TravelHealthPro's Cuba page has no malaria section, and its Malaria tab is empty, with no statement about malaria or antimalarial tablets. CDC's Cuba destination page likewise has no malaria section and says nothing about antimalarial medicine. So the practical conclusion for a European winter trip is that malaria tablets are not part of the planning. The mosquito risks that remain are viral, and they are daytime and evening risks.
Yellow fever: no risk, but the certificate rule still bites
Yellow fever is the reverse of malaria in an important way. There is no yellow fever risk in Cuba, and vaccination is not recommended for travel there, yet a certificate can still be required. TravelHealthPro states that there is no risk of yellow fever in Cuba, but that proof of vaccination is required for travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from countries at risk for yellow fever transmission, and for transit over 12 hours through those countries. CDC records the same position: yellow fever vaccination is not recommended for Cuba, and it is required for travellers aged 9 months and older. The two pages phrase the arriving-from condition differently, so check your route rather than your destination. A direct flight from Europe normally raises no certificate issue. A trip that includes a yellow fever risk country before Cuba can change that.
Which mosquitoes bite by day and which by night
Bite timing tells you when protection matters. TravelHealthPro's factsheet 38, updated 13 August 2026, states that some mosquitoes bite during daylight hours, including Aedes species, while others are more active from dusk to dawn, including Anopheles species. It adds two useful exceptions: Aedes aegypti can bite at night in well-lit areas, and Anopheles can be active during the day, at dawn and dusk, and throughout the night depending on species and place. The World Health Organization's chikungunya fact sheet, updated 14 April 2025, says the mosquitoes that spread chikungunya bite primarily during daylight hours, and that Aedes aegypti feeds both indoors and outdoors. So in Cuba the day is not a safe window. Outdoor breakfasts, shaded courtyards and daytime excursions all sit inside Aedes biting hours, and evening lighting extends that risk indoors.
Repellent and clothing: what the guidance actually specifies
Both sources name the same active ingredients but differ on detail. TravelHealthPro recommends repellent containing DEET at 50% concentration for all travellers over two months, provided it can be tolerated, and says there is no further increase in protection beyond 50%; icaridin has similar properties at 20%. Apply DEET after sunscreen, and use a 30 to 50 SPF sunscreen. The World Health Organization recommends repellents containing DEET, IR3535 or icaridin, applied according to the product label, and does not set a concentration, referring users to the label. WHO also advises clothing that minimises skin exposure to day-biting mosquitoes. Read the label rather than assuming a number, and reapply as instructed. Repellent is not a substitute for covered skin during peak biting hours, and neither replaces screens on the windows of where you sleep.
When a bed net matters, and what else protects you
A bed net matters most when mosquitoes can reach you while you sleep, or when you sleep by day. TravelHealthPro says all travellers to malaria-endemic areas should sleep under a mosquito net unless the room is well screened or has working, switched-on air conditioning where mosquitoes cannot enter. That malaria framing does not apply to Cuba, so judge your own room instead: intact fine mesh on doors and windows, and functioning air conditioning, do the same job. WHO advises insecticide-treated nets for people who sleep during the daytime, giving young children, sick patients and older people as examples, and advises window and door screens to keep mosquitoes out. For babies under two months, TravelHealthPro advises clothing and insecticide-treated nets draped over cots and prams, secured around the edges, as DEET is not recommended under that age.
Sources
- Report on the epidemiological situation of dengue in endemic countries of the Americas, as of epidemiological week 39, 2026: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization
- Epidemiological Update: Dengue and Chikungunya in the Americas Region, 20 October 2026: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization
- Cuba country information: TravelHealthPro (UK National Travel Health Network and Centre)
- Cuba, CDC Travelers' Health: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Insect and tick bite avoidance: TravelHealthPro (UK National Travel Health Network and Centre)
- Chikungunya (fact sheet): World Health Organization
- Countries and territories certified malaria-free by WHO: World Health Organization
This article is general information, not medical advice. Ask a doctor or pharmacist about your own health.