Visitors see few mosquitoes in winter Havana. This year, the routine still matters.

Are there mosquitoes in Havana? Fewer than you might expect in winter. Visitors tend to find them scarce in Old Havana and Centro Habana in the cooler months. The reason for care this year is the disease picture. Cuba is in a dengue surge, and Havana districts were among the country's highest chikungunya areas in September 2026.

Why Havana rates high when the bites are few

Our disease score rates what is circulating and the bite score rates how often you notice bites, so the two can sit far apart. Havana gets the top rating because chikungunya is circulating in the city, dengue is surging across Cuba, and Oropouche, a third virus, was confirmed in the capital in 2025. Havana's own case counts aren't published, since Cuba's Ministry of Public Health issues no detailed bulletins and its official figures to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) run only to late June.

Chikungunya arrived in Havana with the epidemic that began in July 2025. PAHO counted 51,217 suspected cases, 1,959 confirmed and 46 deaths in Cuba that year, and 2,716 more cases, 254 confirmed, with 6 deaths, in 2026 through late June. In late September 2026 the health ministry said several Havana municipalities, without listing them, were among the highest-incidence areas, alongside Pinar del Río, Sancti Spíritus and Villa Clara.

Dengue is surging nationally. The CDC put Cuba in its high-transmission category as of October 7, 2026, and Cuba is named on the CDC's Level 1 global dengue notice. Oropouche, spread mainly by biting midges, reached the capital too. According to PAHO, 3 of the 28 lab-confirmed cases Cuba reported from January to mid-July 2025 were in Havana. The CDC has no Oropouche notice for Cuba now.

Conditions add to it. PAHO reports that fuel shortages have disrupted waste collection, "particularly in Havana, where waste accumulation has been observed, contributing to the proliferation of insects." Power cuts switch off air-conditioning and fans. The practical response is our dengue & Zika routine, kept every day of the trip.

The Havana routine

The Aedes mosquito behind dengue and chikungunya breeds in standing water around homes and bites in daylight, with a late-afternoon peak that overlaps the Old Havana evening. The breezy Malecón tends to bite less than sheltered courtyards and interior rooms.

On a beach trip to Playas del Este, wear long trousers or spray ankles at dusk, when midges bite. The Cuba briefing covers power cuts, family stays and the rest of the island in more depth.

The CDC's Cuba page says, "All travelers should take steps to prevent mosquito bites. Chikungunya vaccination is generally not recommended." It has no malaria section. No yellow fever vaccine is needed when you fly direct from the US.

Where you're going

Scores are for a December–April trip.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor forum threads and linked so you can read them in full. Neither is dated and both threads are older, and bites vary with the weather and the room.

• Havana (Centro and Habana Vieja) · winter months

  Posters said mosquitoes in Centro and Habana Vieja were few enough to be insignificant, especially in winter, and described fumigation crews coming to casas in Vieja. They warned that mosquitoes can be more of a problem outside the city. TripAdvisor ↗

• Havana

  In a thread about bringing mosquito nets, a poster said window screens are not common in Havana, or anywhere in Cuba. TripAdvisor ↗

Two rules outlast the trip. Any fever, rash or joint pain during or after the trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Havana. And if you live in Florida, keep using repellent for three weeks after you get home, so a local mosquito can't pick up a virus from you and pass it on.

Traveler questions