CDC reports 263 dengue cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands
The territory's first outbreak in a decade led to 15 hospitalizations and one death. The local lab cut test turnaround from one or two months to under a week.
The CDC, the U.S. federal public health agency, released on Oct. 15 a field report reviewing dengue in the U.S. Virgin Islands from January 2024 to June 2025, published in its weekly bulletin, the MMWR.
A total of 263 cases were confirmed, in what was the territory's first outbreak in about ten years. Fifteen people were hospitalized. The only death was a 63-year-old woman with diabetes, the first confirmed there from dengue since 2005. St. Croix had 118 cases, St. Thomas 105 and St. John 40. The peak came between July and September 2024, with 109 cases.
What was done and what changed
Local doctors had seen little dengue in prior years and needed training. Until October 2024 every sample had to be sent off the islands, and results took one or two months. Once the local lab took over that work, the wait fell to under seven days.
The response included visits to 30 clinics, 20 training sessions, mosquito control in 25 communities and a telephone consultation line. Among cases with a known serotype, 101 of 105 were DENV-2. More than half had no serotype recorded, so that share cannot be extended to all cases.
The territory's Department of Health declared the outbreak in August 2024 and recommended removing standing water around the home, repairing window and door screens and using registered repellent. It also recommended seeing a health professional for fever, pain behind the eyes, muscle or joint pain, nausea, vomiting or rash. Those recommendations date from 2024.
What it cannot show
It is a description of one outbreak, with no comparison group, and does not measure whether any measure worked. The 2025 data are partial: the report runs through June and only 5 cases began between April and June. It describes another territory and period, so it does not allow inferences about Mexico, where the Dirección General de Epidemiología publishes its own weekly overview.
The results apply to the population of a territory with local transmission and are not clinical guidance. With symptoms, a consultation with health personnel is the route.
