The number of dengue cases in North and South America is now double what it was in the whole of 2023, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reports. The number of reports of Dutch travellers contracting dengue is also higher than last year.
So far eleven million infections have been reported worldwide – of which more than seven thousand deaths. Ten million of those infections occur in Latin America. Brazil, with nine million infections, has by far the most cases, followed by Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia.
Alarm centre Eurocross sees an increase in the number of reports of dengue (breakbone fever) among Dutch holidaymakers. This year, the alarm centre has received 112 reports from Dutch travellers so far, while this was 113 for the whole of 2023. Most reports they receive come from Indonesia, Thailand and Curaçao. This is probably an underestimation of the number. The RIVM states that it has no data on the number of returning travellers with dengue, as it is not a notifiable disease in the Netherlands.
Yellow fever mosquito and tiger mosquito
The primary vector of dengue is the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The secondary vector is the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. In Southern Europe, indigenous cases of dengue regularly occur, because the tiger mosquito has now established itself there. For the Netherlands, dengue is still an imported disease. In the Netherlands, the tiger mosquito is sometimes found, for example when importing the houseplant Lucky Bamboo or second-hand car tires. In the Caribbean Netherlands (the municipalities of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius), several dozen infections occur each year, where the disease is notifiable. Partly due to climate change, it is expected that vector-related infectious diseases will occur more often and in more areas.
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