Bali has a CDC Zika notice. Here's what it changes.

Most American trips to Indonesia center on Bali: a few nights among Ubud's rice fields, a villa in Seminyak or Canggu, a day on Nusa Penida, perhaps a few days on the Gili Islands. In August 2026 the CDC added a Level 2 travel notice for Zika in Bali. For anyone pregnant or planning a pregnancy, it changes the plan a great deal. For everyone else it adds little, because the mosquito that spreads Zika is the same daytime biter behind dengue. Farther east, Komodo and Raja Ampat bring a separate malaria question.

Bali's Zika notice, in plain terms

The CDC posted the notice, Level 2 or "Practice Enhanced Precautions," on August 7, 2026. Its reason is one line: "Cases of Zika are being reported in returning travelers from Bali, Indonesia." The advice for every traveler is nearly as short: "All travelers to Bali should take steps to prevent mosquito bites and sexual transmission of Zika virus during and after travel."

The local picture is less settled. In late August, regional news outlets reported that the Bali Health Office's routine surveillance had found no confirmed Zika cases in Bali Province, and that Indonesia's Ministry of Health would expand laboratory capacity and Zika surveillance. For a US traveler, the CDC notice is the guidance to plan around. Notices get updated and lifted, so check this one again the week before you fly.

Dengue and chikungunya: the daytime routine

Dengue is endemic across Indonesia, Bali included, and 2026 has been a quieter year. The World Health Organization counted 88,290 cases and 238 deaths nationwide from January to mid-September 2026, after 148,922 cases in all of 2025, and monthly counts have fallen since January. In Bali, the provincial health office reported 1,588 cases and two deaths from January through July, and officials described a downward trend, with monthly counts under 300.

Chikungunya travels with the same mosquitoes. The CDC's Indonesia page says "There is elevated chikungunya risk in Indonesia," and that vaccination may be considered for extended stays, such as six months or more. WHO counted 3,608 confirmed cases in 2025 through July 31, more than double the same period of 2024.

All three spread through Aedes mosquitoes, which bite in daylight with peaks after sunrise and in the late afternoon. Our dengue & Zika daily routine has the full schedule. In Bali it comes down to three habits.

Japanese encephalitis and the rice fields

Japanese encephalitis is a mosquito-borne virus that can infect the brain, and Bali is a recognized focus for it. A published case report describes an unvaccinated Australian traveler who died of it in 2019 after time in Bali. Transmission tends to center on rice paddies and pig farming, where Culex mosquitoes, which bite mostly in the evening and at night, carry the virus.

The CDC recommends the vaccine for stays of a month or more in areas with Japanese encephalitis and suggests considering it for shorter trips that include rural areas, hiking or camping, or nights without air-conditioning, screens or bed nets. A villa among Ubud's paddies is that kind of rural stay.

Malaria depends on how far east you go

The CDC reports no malaria transmission in the resort areas of Bali, in Ubud, on the Gili Islands, in Jakarta or in Java's resort areas, and recommends no prevention medicine there. Its list covers "all areas of eastern Indonesia (the provinces of Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, and West Papua), including the town of Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Islands," plus rural areas of Kalimantan (Borneo), West Nusa Tenggara (which includes Lombok), Sulawesi and Sumatra. Rural Java has low transmission, including at Pangandaran, Sukabumi and Ujung Kulon. The CDC lists several prevention medicines for these areas.

The CDC doesn't say whether Lombok's beach-resort strips, such as Senggigi and Kuta Lombok, count as rural, so take that question to the clinic with your hotel's name in hand.

Where you're going

Here is how the main stops compare across the year.

When to go

Americans visit Bali in every month, and the bites follow the rain. Bali's dry season runs roughly May to October, and in 2026 those were months of falling dengue counts. The rainy season, roughly November to March or April, tends to be the buggiest stretch, and mosquitoes pick up quickly after heavy rain. Around Ubud's rice-field villas, numbers also swing with the crop stage and the amount of standing water. Nationally, dengue in 2026 was highest in January, and WHO has warned that chikungunya risk persists through the change from rainy to dry season. The Zika notice applies in every month until the CDC removes it.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from forum threads and a hotel review and linked so you can read them in full. None is dated, and mosquito numbers on Bali and the Gilis change with rain and the rice crop.

• Ubud (rice-field accommodation) · April (trip being planned)

  Asked whether rice-field lodging means too many mosquitoes, posters said it depends on the crop stage, since a nearly ripe crop leaves little standing water. A resident living among the paddies said they see few mosquitoes because fish and eels eat the larvae; others advised mosquito coils on the balcony and a DEET or picaridin repellent, and warned that small containers of water also breed mosquitoes. TripAdvisor ↗

• Gili Trawangan · rainy season (about Nov-Apr)

  A reply said the rainy season, roughly November to April, is traditionally the worse time for mosquitoes, though not in huge clouds, and recommended DEET plus coils or sprays from the island's mini-markets. TripAdvisor ↗

• Manta Dive Gili Trawangan Resort · after heavy rain

  A guest's review complained about mosquitoes. The resort's manager replied that mosquitoes multiply very fast after heavy rain and that rooms have plug-in vaporizers and air conditioning but no mosquito nets. TripAdvisor ↗

One more rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Indonesia and where. The same goes for a rash, joint pain or red eyes. Dengue usually shows up within two weeks; malaria can take longer. If you're flying on to Singapore, our Singapore briefing covers the next stop.

Traveler questions