Dengue: What the US Data Actually Shows
A mosquito-borne viral infection common in tropical and subtropical regions that causes high fever and body aches; a minority of cases progress to severe, potentially fatal dengue.
Mainly Imported into US Seen mostly in US travelers; limited local transmission occurs in Puerto Rico and parts of the Gulf Coast.
The published figures
Every number below is reproduced from a primary source and carries that source beside it. Where a figure is absent it is shown as unavailable rather than estimated — the reasoning for each gap is set out further down this page.
| Metric | United States | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Exposure / Cases | 1,320 | CDC — Dengue Historic Data (2010–2025), ArboNET (updated September 9, 2026) primary source | 2026-09-09 |
| Severe Outcome Rate | Data not available | CDC — Dengue Historic Data (2010–2025), ArboNET (updated September 9, 2026) primary source | 2026-09-09 |
| Hospitalization Rate | 36.1% | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 primary source | 2026-05-15 |
| Case Fatality Rate | 0.2% | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 primary source | 2026-05-15 |
| Annual Deaths | 6 | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 primary source | 2026-05-15 |
2025 (ArboNET, states + DC): 1,320 cases, 93.9% travel-associated (1,239) and 6.1% locally acquired (81). 2024 in the same current data is 3,811 (3,706 + 105) — the MMWR published 3,798 for 2024 and that published figure is kept as the 2024 history point. Hospitalization (36.1%), deaths (6) and the fatality proportion (0.2%) remain the 2024 MMWR figures because CDC has published no 2025 equivalents; each carries its own 2026-05-15 date. cases_per_100k is a Tier 1.5 derivation (CDC 2025 case count ÷ US Census Vintage 2025 population) per SITE-PLAYBOOK.md §12a. severe_outcome_rate_pct left UNAVAILABLE: CDC's MMWR on 2010-2021 US travel-associated dengue reports severe dengue as a small proportion of cases ("<1%") but does not publish an exact percentage — forcing that qualitative language into a point estimate would overstate precision CDC itself doesn't claim.
What this data cannot tell you
1 of the five funnel metrics has no publishable US figure for Dengue. That is a deliberate result, not an oversight. Where no primary source publishes a comparable figure, this site leaves the cell empty rather than filling it with an estimate, a number borrowed from a different population, or a single-study result presented as a general rate.
- Severe Outcome Rate — no comparable figure published by the record's primary source as of 2026-09-09.
This matters when comparing viruses. A blank cell is not a low number: it means the measurement does not exist, and treating it as zero would make Dengue look safer than the evidence supports. The comparison table on the Virus Risk Perspective page applies the same rule — unavailable figures are excluded from ranking rather than sorted to the bottom.
How Dengue compares
Ranked only against viruses in this collection that publish the same metric. Viruses without a published figure are excluded from each comparison rather than counted as zero, so the denominator differs from metric to metric.
Read the case comparison carefully. Records in this collection do not all measure exposure the same way. Some report confirmed cases counted by a surveillance system (measles, West Nile), others a modelled estimate of total annual illness including cases that are never reported (norovirus, seasonal influenza). A modelled burden figure will always dwarf a confirmed-case count, so a gap on this metric can reflect how a disease is counted as much as how often it occurs. The per-figure sources above state which basis each number uses.
Annual Exposure / Cases
At 1,320, 8 of the 10 other viruses reporting this metric are higher and 2 are lower. Higher: Seasonal influenza, Norovirus, COVID-19. Lower: Avian influenza A, Powassan virus.
Hospitalization Rate
At 36.1%, 2 of the 4 other viruses reporting this metric are higher and 2 are lower. Higher: Powassan virus, West Nile virus. Lower: Measles, Mpox.
Case Fatality Rate
At 0.2%, 6 of the 9 other viruses reporting this metric are higher and 3 are lower. Higher: Rabies, Hantavirus, Powassan virus. Lower: Measles, Seasonal influenza, Mpox.
Annual Deaths
At 6, 6 of the 9 other viruses reporting this metric are higher and 3 are lower. Higher: Seasonal influenza, COVID-19, Respiratory syncytial virus. Lower: Measles, Avian influenza A, Mpox.
How the figures have moved
Each observation below is a figure as it stood on a given date, with the source that published it. Points are not interpolated: where an agency published a figure once, one point is shown rather than a line drawn through invented values.
Annual Exposure / Cases
| As of | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-15 | 3,798 | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 |
| 2026-09-09 | 1,320 | CDC — Dengue Historic Data (2010–2025), ArboNET (updated September 9, 2026) — calendar year 2025, 50 states + DC |
Hospitalization Rate
| As of | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-15 | 36.1% | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 |
Case Fatality Rate
| As of | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-15 | 0.2% | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 |
Annual Deaths
| As of | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-15 | 6 | CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 |
Global picture
| Metric | Global (WHO) |
|---|---|
| Annual Exposure / Cases | 100,000,000–400,000,000 |
| Severe Outcome Rate | Data not available |
| Hospitalization Rate | Data not available |
| Case Fatality Rate | Data not available |
| Annual Deaths | 12,000+ |
WHO estimates 100–400 million dengue infections worldwide each year. In 2024, 14.6 million cases and over 12,000 dengue-related deaths were reported to WHO — a record high; reported deaths undercount true mortality. Fact sheet re-read 2026-09-15: it is dated 21 August 2025 and 2024 is still the latest full year it reports; for 2025 it gives only a partial-year figure (over 4 million cases and over 3,000 deaths reported from 97 countries, January–July), so the 2024 figures and their date stand.
Source: WHO — Dengue and severe dengue fact sheet · Data as of 2024-12-31 · Surveillance confidence: moderate
Sources
- CDC — Dengue Historic Data (2010–2025), ArboNET (updated September 9, 2026) primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
- CDC MMWR — Increase in Travel-Associated and Locally Acquired Dengue Cases, United States, 2024 primary source · retrieved 2026-05-15
- WHO — Dengue and severe dengue fact sheet primary source · retrieved 2024-12-31
Sourcing tiers, and the rule that a derived figure inherits its weakest input's tier, are set out on the Our Sources page. The process behind every figure is described in How We Answer Questions.