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Source: https://ticotimes.net/2026/09/16/cdc-dengue-risk-costa-rica
CDC Flags Costa Rica for Higher-Than-Expected Dengue Risk
By The Tico Times
September 16, 2026
If you’re in Costa Rica or heading here soon, mosquitoes deserve more of your attention than usual. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added Costa Rica to its list of countries with a higher-than-expected dengue risk. The update came on Sept. 3, and the U.S. Embassy in San José passed it on to U.S. citizens in a health alert on Sept. 11.
Costa Rica joins Colombia, Vietnam, the Maldives, Bolivia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu on the list. This is not a travel warning. Costa Rica stays at Level 1, the lowest step on the CDC’s travel health scale, which means “practice usual precautions.” Nothing about the CDC’s travel recommendations has changed.
What the listing does mean is that dengue is more active than normal. Countries land on the list when they report more cases than usual, or when more U.S. travelers than expected come home sick with dengue after a visit. Either way, your odds of being bitten by an infected mosquito are higher right now.
The numbers here back that up as Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health has recorded 4,172 dengue cases through the 34th epidemiological week of 2026, compared with 2,751 at the same point in 2025. Earlier in the year, the ministry reported the Central Pacific region had the highest infection rate in the country, while the North Central region had the most cases overall...
CDC Flags Costa Rica for Higher-Than-Expected Dengue Risk
By The Tico Times
September 16, 2026
If you’re in Costa Rica or heading here soon, mosquitoes deserve more of your attention than usual. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added Costa Rica to its list of countries with a higher-than-expected dengue risk. The update came on Sept. 3, and the U.S. Embassy in San José passed it on to U.S. citizens in a health alert on Sept. 11.
Costa Rica joins Colombia, Vietnam, the Maldives, Bolivia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu on the list. This is not a travel warning. Costa Rica stays at Level 1, the lowest step on the CDC’s travel health scale, which means “practice usual precautions.” Nothing about the CDC’s travel recommendations has changed.
What the listing does mean is that dengue is more active than normal. Countries land on the list when they report more cases than usual, or when more U.S. travelers than expected come home sick with dengue after a visit. Either way, your odds of being bitten by an infected mosquito are higher right now.
The numbers here back that up as Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health has recorded 4,172 dengue cases through the 34th epidemiological week of 2026, compared with 2,751 at the same point in 2025. Earlier in the year, the ministry reported the Central Pacific region had the highest infection rate in the country, while the North Central region had the most cases overall...