Ongoing Risk of Dengue Virus Infections

Thursday March 20, 2025

Updated Testing Recommendations in the United States

Summary

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is issuing this Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Update to provide additional information to healthcare providers, public health departments, and the public about the ongoing risk of dengue virus (DENV) infections and updates to testing recommendations in the United States. Dengue activity remains high in some parts of the United States and globally, with many countries reporting higher-than-usual number of dengue cases in 2024 and 2025. Healthcare providers, public health departments, and the public are urged to continue to take steps to prevent, detect, diagnose, and respond to dengue as described in the June 2024 HAN Health Advisory (CDCHAN-00511) on dengue in the United States. Updates include:

1. Dengue virus transmission remains high in the Americas region, including in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Spring and summer travel coincide with the peak season for dengue in many countries, increasing the risk of both travel-associated and locally acquired cases in the United States.

2. Use the CDC DENV-1-4 real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay when dengue is the most likely diagnosis.

3. New resources are available for public health professionals including a job aid for reviewing medical records and guidance for investigating and responding to dengue cases in non-endemic areas of the United States.

Recommendations for the Public

• Review and be familiar with the recommendations for the public in the June 2024 HAN (CDCHAN-00511) on dengue in the United States and CDC’s current Travel Health Notice on global dengue.

• Take steps to prevent mosquito bites during travel, particularly if traveling to an area with frequent or continuous dengue transmission. In addition, take steps to prevent mosquito bites for 3 weeks after travel to avoid possibly spreading the virus to others if you are in an area where mosquitoes are active. These activities will also lower the risk for other vector-borne diseases.

Additional Resources For the Public

• Preventing Dengue | Dengue | CDC
• Preventing Mosquito Bites While Traveling | CDC
• Dengue During Pregnancy | Dengue | CDC
• Caring for a Family Member with Dengue | CDC
• Mosquito Control at Home | Mosquitoes | CDC
• Get Rid of Mosquitos at Home | CDC
• Your Infant Has Dengue | CDC
• Areas with Risk of Dengue | Dengue | CDC
• Global Dengue | Travel Health Notices | CDC
• Find a Clinic | Travelers’ Health | CDC
• Current Dengue Outbreak | Dengue | CDC
• About Dengue Fact Sheet | Dengue | CDC
• Fact sheet for pregnant women: Understanding results from the Trioplex Real-Time RT-PCR Assay (Trioplex rRT-PCR)

Information provided by CDC