cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40411638

One-third of Cubans have contracted mosquito-borne diseases this year, according to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health: dengue, oropouche and chikungunya. With over 42,000 cases reported across the country since July 2025, chikungunya was declared an epidemic in early November. 44 deaths from dengue and chikungunya have been reported, 29 of them children. The health system is struggling against an outbreak that has spread due to a lack of resources.

“This arbovirus wave is not happening in a vacuum. It arrives at a moment of severe economic strangulation," says Dr. Samira Addrey, a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba. U.S. sanctions cause billions of dollars in losses annually, depriving the health sector of fuel for ambulances and fumigation, reagents for diagnostics, and raw materials for medicine.

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