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While Dengue Fever cases have traditionally been centered in the Miami-Dade County area, new data from the Florida Department of Health (DOH) indicates virus-carrying mosquitoes are circulating in Brevard County, over 200 miles to the north.
The DOH-Brevard initially informed residents of a confirmed human case of locally-acquired Dengue in early July 2025, and a second case during the week ending July 26, 2025..
This area of central Florida is known as the Space Coast, home to the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Tourists frequent this coastal area, which includes the cities of Melbourne and Cocoa Beach. Furthermore, it is about 100 miles east of Orlando.
In 2025, 118 cases of travel-related dengue fever were reported among individuals, with 59 cases related to travelers from Cuba.
Since Dengue vaccines are unavailable in Florida, DOH-Brevard reminds the community to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes by taking basic precautions, such as wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and eliminating standing water.
As of July 29, 2025, only Puerto Rico is authorized to offer the first-generation Dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia®) to children in the United States.
While the Pan American Health Organization has reported over 200,000 Chikungunya cases in 2025, none were confirmed in the Republic of Cuba.
However, as of July 28, 2025, local media are reporting that the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine has stated a Chikungunya outbreak has been reported in the España Republicana neighborhood of Matanzas municipality, specifically in the Perico area.
According to news from the CubaHeadlines, tests detected the mosquito-transmitted virus in several patient samples from the area.
Recently, Cuban authorities confirmed five critical dengue cases in Cuba.
This outbreak is of concern to Florida, which is located about 100 miles north of this area in Cuba.
"Florida's subtropical climate, abundant mosquito populations (notably Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus), and high volume of international travelers create conditions conducive to potential outbreaks, Duellyn Pandis, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CTM®, AFTM RCPS(Glasg), FAANP, informed Vax-Before-Travel.
"As of July 2025, Florida has reported travel-related chikungunya cases, which pose a risk of local transmission if infected individuals are bitten by local mosquitoes, which can then spread the virus to others," added Bandis, President of Passport Health of Tampa Bay Travel Medicine Clinic.
As of mid-July, the Florida Department of Health had reported hundreds of travel-related Chikungunya, Dengue, and about 23 Malaria cases, many related to travelers from Cuba.
To increase Chikungunya infections, commercial laboratories began offering diagnostic tests in 2025.
And from a disease prevention perspective, two Chikungunya vaccines have been approved and are commercailly available in the United States.
With the onset of the rainy season in Central America, breeding sites for the mosquitoes that transmit the Dengue Fever virus have increased, leading to disease outbreaks.
According to local media reports on July 24, 2025, Belize City, a favorite destination for over 500,000 tourists, has recently been significantly impacted. The
Belize Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported 160 cases in the Belize District as of the end of June 2025, compared to 90 cases during the same period last year.
The Ministry is reportedly engaged in various interventions, including clean-up campaigns and spraying mosquito breeding sites, which are ongoing in several communities.
While 2024 was a record-setting year for Dengue cases (13 million) in the Americas, new data indicate that far fewer cases have been reported (3.4 million) so far in 2025.
As of July 27, 2025, the U.S. CDC's Global Dengue Travel Health Advisory does not highlight Belize's situation; various countries in the Region of the Americas are listed. The CDC recommends international travelers speak with a travel health advisor before visiting any area that is reporting a disease outbreak.
In the United States, the Miami, Florida, has reported both travel-related and locally acquired Dengue cases in 2025.
In a significant stride toward combating one of the world's deadliest diseases, which is spread by mosquitoes, a large-scale, cluster-randomized clinical trial has demonstrated that mass administration of ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasitic infections, can substantially reduce malaria transmission.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 23, 2025, results from the BOHEMIA trial, the most extensive study of its kind, found that ivermectin led to a 26% decrease in new malaria infections among children when combined with standard bed nets.
Regina Rabinovich, BOHEMIA principal investigator and director of ISGlobal's Malaria Elimination Initiative, commented in a press release, "This research has the potential to shape the future of malaria prevention, particularly in endemic areas where existing tools are failing."
This finding, along with a study published in 2019, offers a promising approach against a parasite that continues to evade traditional control measures impacting the health of millions of people, primarily in Africa and South America.
In addition to reducing malaria transmission, the BOHEMIA team observed a significant reduction in the prevalence of skin infestations, such as scabies and head lice, in the ivermectin group in Mozambique. Furthermore, the Kenya community reported a substantial decrease in bed bugs.
According to the press release, the study's findings have been reviewed by the WHO Vector Control Advisory Group, which concluded that the study had demonstrated impact and recommended further studies.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Algorithm for the Diagnosis and Management of Malaria guides the recommended steps to treat malaria patients. Recommendations for antimalarial drugs to prevent malaria vary by country of travel and can be found in the CDC's Yellow Book, specifically in the chapter on Malaria Prevention Information.
As of July 25, 2025, international travelers in the United States, such as those in Florida, have been diagnosed with malaria upon returning from Africa.
Malaria cases are on the rise in southern Africa, including Botswana, eSwatini, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
Additionally, malaria vaccines have been approved for use in Africa; however, they are not available in the United States as of 2025.
The ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes states that most dengue cases reported in mainland France involve international travelers who were infected with the mosquito-transmitted virus while visiting a tropical region.
If people return to France infected, dengue symptoms occur on average within 4 to 7 days after the infective bite. These are considered imported cases.
However, recent reports suggest that a local outbreak may occur in July 2025.
Approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Lyon, France, Saint-Chamond, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, has confirmed a second locally acquired case of Dengue as of July 15, 2025.
'At this stage, it is not possible to establish a link with the first indigenous case identified in Saint-Chamond, as the investigations are still ongoing,' wrote ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
An entomological survey conducted on July 18, 2025, confirmed the presence of tiger mosquitoes in areas frequented by the infected person and informed residents of an adulticide treatment. These mosquitoes carry dengue viruses.
Around one hundred homes in the affected area have been informed.
As of July 23, 2025, Sante Publique France reported a total of four locally acquired cases of Dengue for 2025.
In 2024, France reported 82 locally transmitted cases of dengue fever. Outbreaks were identified in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Occitanie, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions.
The World Health Organization has classified Dengue as a grade 3 emergency, with an estimated 4 billion people at risk in approximately 110 countries, including areas within the United States, such as Florida and Puerto Rico.
While numerous countries offer Dengue vaccinations, only Puerto Rico continues to provide a first-generation vaccine to children.
Note: This article was updated on July 24, 2025.
As the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season expands in the state of Florida, the most significant US real-world study of a single-dose long-acting antibody designed to help prevent RSV lower respiratory tract disease in infants successfully met both of its co-primary endpoints.
The full results from the "Effectiveness of nirsevimab against RSV and RSV-related events in infants" study have been published in PEDIATRICS®, an official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, on July 22, 2025.
Ayman Chit, Head of North America Medical, Vaccines, Sanofi, commented in a press release, "These results support BEYFORTUS (nirsevimab) as a groundbreaking advancement in infant RSV disease prevention."
"With more than 40 real-world evidence studies to date, this latest study further strengthens the well-established body of data that shows that BEYFORTUS protects against RSV disease to help safeguard the health of all babies, regardless of whether they are born before or during the RSV season."
According to the Florida Department of Health, RSV is a common respiratory virus that typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Young children and older adults, especially those with certain underlying health conditions, are at higher risk for severe illness from RSV.
Florida’s RSV season is longer than that of the rest of the nation and exhibits distinct regional patterns. For this reason, the state is broken up into five RSV regions, each with its own RSV season.
