With more than one-third of the world’s population living in areas at risk for infection, dengue virus is a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics. As many as 400 million people are infected yearly. Dengue is caused by any one of four related viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. There are not yet any vaccines to prevent infection with dengue virus and the most effective protective measures are those that avoid mosquito bites. When infected, early recognition and prompt supportive treatment can substantially lower the risk of medical complications and death.

Dengue has emerged as a worldwide problem only since the 1950s. Although dengue rarely occurs in the continental United States, it is endemic in Puerto Rico and in many popular tourist destinations in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

Differentiating Chikungunya From Dengue: A Clinical Challenge. Medscape Commentary, Dr. Tyler Sharp, CDC

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  TravelTravel smart

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  PreventionPrevent Illness and Infection

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  SymptomsLearn about the Symptoms of Dengue

Other travel health notices

New! Need CME, CEU Credit? CDC announces a new 4 CME, .4 CEU credit course: Dengue Clinical Case Management.

Learn how to recognize and diagnose, assess and manage patients with mild to severe dengue.

For more information go to our Dengue Clinical Case Management course (DCCM) training page

Modeling opportunity: Help the USG develop a model to predict dengue epidemics

See the Press Release [PDF – 3 pages]

For more information, see the Dengue Forcasting Project