Dominican Republic confirms 415 dengue cases in 2026; Health Ministry steps up fumigation

SANTO DOMINGO. — The Ministry of Public Health confirmed 15 new dengue cases on Thursday, bringing the 2026 total to 415, and stepped up fumigation and mosquito breeding-site elimination operations.

According to the epidemiological bulletin for week 40, the province of La Altagracia has the highest incidence with 131 cases, followed by La Romana with 37 and Puerto Plata with 33.

Operations are concentrated in Higüey and Verón-Bávaro, in La Altagracia, where provincial health director Wendy Castillo led a fumigation drive in the Vista Hermosa, Cerro Lindo, Villa Palmera and Brisa Duey neighborhoods. Crews covered 114 streets and 342 homes, benefiting 1,242 people.

In parallel, teams visited another 433 residences and eliminated 96 breeding sites in water storage tanks. During the inspection of 355 containers, technicians found mosquito larvae in 37 of them and applied the BTI and Abate larvicides, while distributing liquid chlorine, tank covers and mosquito nets to families.

At the Anamuya primary care unit, ten people with fever and headaches, eight of them minors, were identified and given laboratory tests, while four confirmed cases in the Villa Cerro sector remain under surveillance, the health ministry reported.

The Ministry also trained hospital epidemiologists and National Health Service staff in sample collection and timely case reporting, as part of the national epidemiological surveillance.

Despite the local uptick, the Dominican Republic remains among the countries with the lowest dengue incidence in the region, with a cumulative rate of 4.89 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up to 95% below the Americas' average, which totals 1.7 million suspected cases, according to World Health Organization reports.

Photo: El Seis

Source: El Seis, with data from the Ministry of Public Health.