The number of dengue cases reported in the U.S. in 2024 was “359% higher than the annual average reported from 2010 through 2023.” CIDRAP has the news.
The increase was driven “almost entirely by infections acquired during international travel amid a surge in dengue cases that year.” 97.2% of the 3,798 cases reported in the U.S. in 2024 were “linked to travel, with most tied to destinations in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (34.1%). Travel to North America—primarily Mexico—accounted for 24.3% of infections, and travel to Central America for 15.6%.”
Of the 105 locally acquired cases reported nationwide, 85 of them were identified in Florida. The sharp rise in cases mirrors a worldwide surge; there were 14.1 million cases identified in 2024, a sharp increase from roughly 8 million cases in 2023.
Mosquitoes that can carry the infection “are found throughout large areas of the southeastern and southwestern U.S. and continue to spread to other regions of the country.” The climate in three quarters of the country is amenable to those species, and “climate change could be a growing factor in dengue’s spread.”
More than one-third of U.S. dengue patients required hospitalization, and six deaths were reported. Most dengue cases “occurred among patients reporting Hispanic ethnicity, potentially because Hispanic travelers may be more likely to visit dengue-endemic regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean, both heavily affected by outbreaks in 2024.”
