Spring Break 2026 Disease Risks Include Dengue Fever

As Spring Break 2026 travel plans are being finalized, many travelers are taking steps to avoid mosquito-borne diseases like Dengue fever.

To help inform these decisions, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently updated its global Dengue travel health notice. This notice highlights elevated risks in 15 countries across Asia, the Americas, Africa, and the Pacific.

The updated Level 1 Travel Health Notice, revised on February 17, 2026, reaffirms existing alerts. It emphasizes that Dengue remains a year-round threat in many tropical and subtropical regions.

According to the CDC, the following countries pose elevated risks for travelers: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, the Cook Islands, Cuba, Guyana, the Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, New Caledonia, Pakistan, Samoa, Sudan, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

And the unfortunate leader in the Americas remains Brazil, which has reported over 133,00 cases and 8 related fatalities since the start of 2026.

In the United States, most Dengue cases are travel-associated. However, some limited local transmission has occurred in states such as Florida, Texas, and California, where mosquitoes capable of spreading the virus are present.

So far in 2026, Florida has reported travel-related Dengue cases.

In 2025, 429 cases of Dengue were reported among individuals who had traveled internationally, with 311 cases among travelers from Cuba and 21 from Puerto Rico.

Additionally, 62 locally acquired Dengue cases were reported along Florida's east coast in 2025.

Preventive measures are crucial for anyone traveling to or living in at-risk areas, says the CDC.

As of February 19, 2026, Dengue vaccination options for U.S. travelers remain limited.

The only Dengue vaccine previously approved in the United States, Dengvaxia, has been discontinued due to low global demand, with remaining supplies in places like Puerto Rico set to expire by mid-2026.

Internationally, other vaccines, such as Qdenga, are authorized in over 40 countries, and newer approved vaccines, like Brazil's single-dose Butantan-DV, are being rolled out through national programs.

Travelers should consult travel vaccination clinics for up-to-date vaccination advice when visiting at-risk countries in 2026.