Unlike mainland Chile, Easter Island has dengue.

Yes, and unlike mainland Chile, Rapa Nui has dengue. The day-biting mosquito that spreads it is established here, and a local outbreak began in March 2026 and reached at least 28 confirmed cases by July 19. The trade wind keeps mosquitoes down most days, so the routine is light, and it starts at breakfast.

Dengue keeps coming back

Aedes aegypti, the day-biting dengue mosquito, has been on the island since 2000, according to the regional health authority, and has never been eliminated. Chile's first dengue outbreak hit Rapa Nui in 2002, when 639 cases were reported, and a later model estimated that about 94% of the island's population was infected. Dengue returned in 2006–07, 2008, 2009 and 2011, and the island had Chile's first Zika outbreak, from January to May 2014, traced to French Polynesia.

The 2026 outbreak began in early March, when the Valparaíso regional health authority confirmed four cases, three of them caught on the island. Chilean press reports citing the health ministry and the regional authority counted 14 cases by about March 9, two of them hospitalized at Hospital Hanga Roa, and 24 by May 12, when the island was kept on a yellow alert with no severe or hospitalized cases. A July 19 report described the 28th case, a five-year-old treated as an outpatient. The virus was reported as DENV-1. The newest reports date from July, so check the island's current situation with Chile's health ministry before you go.

The CDC's Chile page lists no dengue, Zika or chikungunya and no malaria, and no CDC notice covers Chile, so the page doesn't reflect the island's outbreaks. The CDC doesn't recommend the yellow fever vaccine, and Chile doesn't require it for entry.

Wind, rain and Hanga Roa

Wind is the island's main protection. Forum posters say it usually keeps mosquitoes away, with more after rain and mainly in parts of town. The dengue mosquito breeds in small pools of standing water around houses and gardens, so Hanga Roa's lodgings and garden restaurants after a shower are the likeliest places for bites. The open, windswept moai sites tend to be the easiest.

It bites in daylight, with peaks after sunrise and in the late afternoon. Put repellent on over sunscreen in the morning and again before sunset, pick a room with screens or air conditioning, and tip out standing water around a rented cabin. Our dengue & Zika routine has the full schedule. If you're pregnant, talk to a healthcare provider about the trip, since Zika circulated here in 2014.

Where you're going

Scores are for a December–April trip.

Our Chile briefing covers Santiago and the Atacama, and the Patagonia briefing covers Torres del Paine and the Argentine side, where the summer pest is a horsefly.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and reviews and linked so you can read them in full. None gives a year, so weigh any comment that dengue was absent against the 2026 outbreak.

• Easter Island · October (question); August and after rain (replies)

  One poster said the island is usually windy enough to keep mosquitoes away but still suggested bringing repellent. Another visitor found lots of mosquitoes after rain two weeks earlier, while a different poster barely saw any in August. TripAdvisor ↗

• Easter Island

  Answering a question about ticks and permethrin, a poster said mosquitoes are mainly a problem in parts of town, that small fish in the crater lakes eat mosquito larvae, and that the day-biting Aedes aegypti carries dengue, Zika and chikungunya, none of which were on the island at the time. TripAdvisor ↗

One rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after the trip means a doctor visit, and you tell the doctor you were on Easter Island, where dengue circulated in 2026. Our bitten in a dengue zone guide covers what to watch for.

Traveler questions