Havana/It was the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and not the Cuban health authorities that revealed that in 2026, deaths from chikungunya will have been recorded in the country. Based on official data reported from the Island, the international organization reported this Tuesday that in January there were two deaths due to the viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti and albopictuswhich brings the number to 67, according to the organization’s own records.
In its report, PAHO also records 1,457 cases of chikungunya last month. These figures contrast with the latest report of the Government, on January 28, when, through the Vice Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña, she assured that in the latter part of January the country had entered a “safety” zone with respect to dengue and chikungunya infections, and only mentioned that there was a 29.3% drop in confirmed and suspected cases of dengue and chikungunya – without mentioning figures -, compared to the previous week.
More than half of the almost 70 deaths recognized by PAHO are minors and a total of 83,366, with those reported in January, have been infected, although these figures could be just a sample. However, statistical calculations of the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (Ocac) and Cuba Siglo 21 showed a higher mortality: as of December, they estimated the death of 8,700 people in the epidemic.
Regarding dengue, Cuba is one of the few countries (along with Venezuela, Nicaragua, Guatemala) for which there is still no data in 2026 in the PAHO public databases.
Regarding dengue, Cuba is one of the few countries for which there is still no data in 2026 in the PAHO public databases
The Cuban Government recognized that the country was facing an epidemic on November 12 of last year. However, the first cases of chikungunya were diagnosed in July and infections of both arboviruses spiked in September and October. A month later, the climax occurred, when the same PAHO revealed that, in just one month, the rate of chikungunya infections doubled in Cuba. In an assessment at the beginning of November, the country reflected a cumulative incidence of 183.43 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in all of America that year. For the first week of December, the count amounted to 350.57, 91% more.
Now, although the cases have officially been reduced, the consequences suffered by many of the people who were infected are beginning to be reported, something that has worsened with the low temperatures on the Island at the beginning of the year. This is the case of a resident of Central Havana, who, after spending several weeks in bed, bedridden with pain, with fever, more than three months later she still has many effects: “I can’t sleep, I spend sleepless nights with pain in my hands and knees,” she told 14ymedio. In Ciego de Ávila, a neighbor has also said that, “in the mornings, I wake up with my hands numb, I have to move them a lot to be able to function halfway well.”
Cuba was fertile ground for the epidemic to spread due to the country’s serious economic crisis, which limits the prevention capacity.
Cuba was fertile ground for the epidemic to spread due to the country’s serious economic crisis, which limits the capacity for prevention –mainly through massive fumigation against mosquitoes–, control –with test to confirm the type of disease – and the care for the sickdue to lack of medicines and other health supplies. Due to these shortages, many families had to obtain basic medical supplies on their own, while others had to choose to keep the sick in their homes due to the precariousness of the health centers.
Another factor has been the accumulation of garbage in the streets. Various epidemiologists agree on the relationship between the proliferation of dirt and the increase in diseases, such as vomiting and diarrhea caused by flies; the leptospira associated with mice, and dengue, Zika, chikungunya and oropouche, caused by different species of insects that act as vectors.
This has led to the burning of garbage in Havana to get rid of waste. It is now common to see on every corner that the burning batteriesat dawn or dusk, day or night, and municipal services and neighbors participate in the activity, setting fire to the waste without any modesty.
That has been the “solution” to the container deficit in the capitalwhich has 10,000, but needs between 20,000 and 30,000. Added to this is that only between 16,000 and 17,000 cubic meters are being collected daily, when in the past between 25,000 and 30,000 were collected.
Likewise, other problems, reported Cubadebate At the beginning of February, it is not only the lack of fuel but the poor condition of the equipment: of 106 collection trucks, only 44 are working. “We are between 37% and 44% of technical availability, well below what is needed,” acknowledged Alexis González Inclán, a Community Services official in the capital.
