Twelve of the deaths are attributed to dengue and 21 to chikungunya.
MIAMI, United States. – The Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP) recognized this Monday the death of 33 people due to arbovirus in the country, in a context that the institution itself describes as “complex”, with widespread circulation of dengue and chikungunya throughout the national territory.
As reported by the Vice Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña García, in the television program Good morningof the 33 confirmed deaths, 12 are attributed to dengue (seven in children under 18 years of age) and 21 to chikungunya (14 also in children under 18 years of age).
The official explained that, although the “febrile syndrome” surveillance system shows a general decrease in the case curve, there are territories where the trend points to an increase. In this context, he pointed out that “the endemic fever corridor is in an epidemic zone,” with the only exception of the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud and the province of Matanzas; In the rest of the country, behavior is oriented towards epidemic levels.
In relation to chikungunya, Peña García reported 5,717 new cases in the last week analyzed, the majority classified as suspicious based on clinical-epidemiological criteria. The accumulated until the closing of the previous Sunday amounts to 38,938 cases, of which 37,678 correspond to clinical suspicions and only 1,260 have been confirmed by PCR tests.
Regarding dengue, the vice minister stressed that the disease maintains active circulation throughout the country. “It continues in the 14 provinces, the 43 municipalities and the 51 health areas,” he specified during his intervention.
Regarding the diagnostic strategy, he insisted on the particularity of the Cuban scheme in an epidemic scenario. “We have explained several times that PCR is the confirmatory test, but in the face of an epidemic situation like we have in the country,” he noted, and then explained that cases that present with clinical-epidemiological suspicion are also considered positive for the purposes of surveillance and health management, although not all have laboratory confirmation.
The MINSAP also reported an increase in the mosquito infestation index, which stands at 0.89. The provinces of Camagüey, Pinar del Río, Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus and Havana are among those with the highest values.
The official report insists that the increase in infestation rates is related to the environmental and structural conditions already indicated in previous updates by MINSAP itself: accumulation of water, difficulties in supply, deficiencies in waste collection and material limitations to systematically sustain fumigations and other vector control actions.
The official reports do not offer details about the territorial distribution of the deceased, nor do they specify the exact dates of the deaths or the comorbidities of the patients, data that would be relevant to better measure the real impact of the current wave of arboviruses.
The recognition of 33 deaths from arboviruses occurs a few weeks after Carilda Peña García herself publicly admiton October 15, that in 2025 “three people had died in Cuba due to dengue, according to the obituary studies carried out.” On that occasion, the vice minister also avoided offering data on the identity, place of residence or date of death of those three people.
Now, with the confirmation of 12 deaths from dengue and 21 from chikungunya, MINSAP itself recognizes a significant expansion in both the number of deaths and the geographical extension of arboviruses, which reach all the country’s provinces and dozens of municipalities and health areas.
At the end of his speech, Peña García issued a warning call to the population, especially families, to reinforce control and protection measures against mosquitoes, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups, such as older adults who live alone and children under one year old.
