India's malaria advice reaches Delhi and Mumbai. Here's how to plan around it.
The CDC recommends malaria prevention medicine for travel throughout India below 6,500 feet, which takes in every stop on a usual first trip. Dengue peaks after the monsoon, chikungunya risk is elevated, and the month you travel changes a lot.
The CDC recommends prescription malaria medicine for travel throughout India, Delhi and Mumbai included, except areas above 6,500 feet. That covers every stop on a usual first trip, so book a travel clinic 4–6 weeks before you fly. Dengue and chikungunya peak after the monsoon, roughly September to November in the north, and spread through mosquitoes that bite in daylight, so repellent goes on in the morning and again before sunset. If you can choose your dates, December to March is the easier window.
A first trip to India usually means the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, often with Varanasi, a tiger safari at Ranthambore, a few days in Mumbai, the beaches of Goa or the Kerala backwaters added on. Americans go in every month, and the bug picture shifts a lot with the calendar. The CDC's malaria recommendation covers all of those places in every season, so it is the first thing to settle. The rest is a daily routine that gets stricter after the monsoon.
The malaria recommendation, read carefully
The CDC's India page opens its malaria section by saying it recommends that travelers going to "certain areas of India" take prescription medicine to prevent malaria. The list of areas that follows is far broader than that phrase suggests. It reads "throughout the country, including the cities of Bombay (Mumbai) and New Delhi (the capital)," with one exception. There is no malaria transmission above 2,000 m (6,500 ft), in high areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.
Read together, those lines put Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Mumbai, Goa, the Kerala backwaters, Varanasi and Ranthambore inside the recommendation. CDC puts the mix at about 60% Plasmodium falciparum, the more dangerous species, and 40% P. vivax, and it reports chloroquine resistance. Its list of prevention medicines for India is atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine.
What we suggest you do with this: book a travel-medicine appointment 4–6 weeks before departure and bring the whole route, including any nights in national parks, villages or homestays. The clinician weighs the CDC-listed medicines against your health and itinerary and can settle the Japanese encephalitis question in the same visit. Our malaria-zone checklist covers everything around the prescription.
Whatever the clinic decides, the night shift matters. Malaria mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, the hours of rooftop dinners, evening boat rides and the river ceremonies in Varanasi. Repellent at sunset, long sleeves and trousers after dark, and an air-conditioned or screened room or a bed net cover most of that exposure.
Dengue and chikungunya peak after the monsoon
Dengue is endemic across India, and the CDC lists it among the bug-borne diseases there that no vaccine prevents. The yearly rise follows the monsoon. The World Health Organization counted 23,470 cases nationwide in September 2026, 72% more than in August, and 70,140 for the year through September, close to the 68,356 of the same months in 2025. India is not on the CDC's global dengue list, which flags countries with higher-than-usual case numbers. A normal Indian season is still a big one.
Delhi shows the pattern clearly. Cases climb through September and October, and October was the city's worst month in 2025. Some years run later. In 2021, press reports put about 5,600 of Delhi's more than 7,100 cases in November alone.
CDC also says there is elevated chikungunya risk in India. WHO counted 108,379 suspected and 4,995 confirmed cases from January through August 2025, with Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat reporting the most confirmed cases. In 2026 India has reported more cases than any other country in Asia, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in September, and Kerala had an outbreak in August centered on Thiruvananthapuram.
Both viruses travel with 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 India it comes down to three habits.
Sunscreen first, repellent on top, before the fort, temple or market. The hours after sunrise are a feeding peak.
Sweat and humidity shorten any label's window. Our repellent timing guide has the numbers.
The second Aedes peak runs into the malaria hours. Long sleeves and a fresh application cover both.
Zika, Japanese encephalitis and the rest of the list
Zika is on CDC's list for India. WHO counted 151 cases in 2024 in three states: 140 in Maharashtra, 125 of them in Pune district, 10 in Karnataka, mostly in Bengaluru, and one in Gujarat. WHO's 2026 update has no India figures for 2025. If you're pregnant, talk to a healthcare provider before you travel.
Japanese encephalitis is present in India, and the CDC page doesn't name specific states. CDC's guidance recommends the vaccine for a month or more in areas with the disease and says to consider it for shorter trips that include rural areas, hiking or camping, or lodging without air-conditioning, screens or bed nets. It does not recommend it for short city trips. A Ranthambore safari or a village homestay is the kind of rural stop to raise at the clinic.
CDC also lists leishmaniasis, spread by sand flies that bite from dusk to dawn, and filariasis, plus Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which ticks carry, so check your whole body for ticks after a day outdoors. Separately, CDC's India page has an alert about counterfeit ABHAYRAB rabies vaccine reported in Delhi, so get any rabies shots from a reliable source.
Evenings on the water
Bite complaints in India cluster around dusk and evening, and around water. The usual hotspots are Kerala's backwater houseboats, Ganges boat trips in Varanasi and South Goa beach villages such as Agonda. Treat those evenings as the bite window. Put repellent on before you board or sit down, wear long sleeves and light trousers, and before you book an overnight houseboat, ask whether the cabin has screens, air-conditioning or a net.
Where you're going
Here is how the main stops compare. Every one of them is inside the CDC's malaria area.
Delhi, Agra & Jaipur
CDC names New Delhi in its malaria transmission area, so the whole circuit is inside the medicine recommendation. Dengue climbs from September and has peaked in October or November, which makes December to March the easier window.
Mumbai
CDC names the city, as Bombay, in its malaria area. Maharashtra, the surrounding state, had most of India's 2024 Zika cases and was among the top states for chikungunya in 2025.
Goa
Inside CDC's nationwide malaria area. Beach-village evenings are the bite window, so repellent at sunset and long layers for beach dinners do most of the work.
Kerala: Kochi, the backwaters & Thiruvananthapuram
The backwaters and coast sit far below the 6,500 ft cutoff, so CDC's malaria advice applies. Thiruvananthapuram had a chikungunya outbreak in August 2026, and backwater houseboat evenings have a reputation for mosquitoes.
Varanasi
Inside the malaria area. Dusk boat rides on the Ganges and the evening ceremonies on the ghats fall in prime biting hours, so cover up and reapply before you head down to the river.
Ranthambore
Rural Rajasthan, so CDC's malaria advice applies, and CDC says to consider Japanese encephalitis vaccine for rural visits. Bites are likely lighter than on the rivers and coast, and the routine stays the same.
When to go
If you can choose, plan north India for roughly December to March. Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi and Ranthambore tend to be cooler and drier then, and dengue is past its post-monsoon peak. August to November is the hard stretch, and September to November in the Golden Triangle is the heart of dengue season.
The coast and the south keep their own calendars. Mumbai and Goa tend to be wettest from June to September. Kerala's dengue runs earlier in the year. WHO data show its 2025 cases rising from January and falling after early June, and local authorities linked this August's chikungunya outbreak in Thiruvananthapuram to the monsoon. No month takes the malaria recommendation off the table.
What travelers report
Paraphrased from forum threads and reviews and linked so you can read them in full. None is dated, and forum opinions on malaria pills don't replace the CDC recommendation and a clinic visit.
- Alleppey (Alappuzha) houseboat, Kerala · evening
A reviewer advised against an overnight houseboat stay: the boat docked early in the evening at a spot where guests could not get off, and mosquitoes and other insects kept them from enjoying the evening. TripAdvisor ↗
- Varanasi (Alaknanda Cruise on the Ganges)
A reviewer said the cruise boat was full of mosquitoes and grasshoppers, alongside complaints about price and service. TripAdvisor ↗
- Agonda, South Goa · dusk
A forum poster said mosquitoes in Agonda are mainly a problem around dusk and that a lotion-type repellent worked well. TripAdvisor ↗
- Delhi and Agra
Asked about malaria on a short Delhi and Agra trip, a forum destination expert judged the risk low, suggested repellent and covered clothing, and called pills a personal choice to discuss with a doctor. This differs from CDC, which recommends malaria medicine for travel throughout India, New Delhi included. TripAdvisor ↗
The India kit
- Picaridin 20% travel sprays: odorless in the heat, layers over sunscreen and works against both day and night biters. One 3.4 oz bottle covers about a week of daily use for one person.
- A full-size backup in the checked bag for a family or a trip of two weeks or more, so you're not hunting for a familiar brand in a pharmacy.
- Permethrin 0.5% for evening clothes: treat a long-sleeved shirt, light trousers and socks at home 48 hours before you fly. Treated fabric repels and kills mosquitoes on contact through several washes. It goes on clothing, never on skin. Pack a bed net too if you'll stay in homestays or houseboats without screens.
One more rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during your trip or in the year after it means a doctor visit, right away, and you tell them you were in India. Dengue usually shows up within two weeks; malaria can take much longer. That one sentence is what gets you the right test quickly.
Traveler questions
Do I need malaria pills for Delhi, Agra and Jaipur?
The CDC's transmission area for India reads "throughout the country, including the cities of Bombay (Mumbai) and New Delhi (the capital)," with no transmission only in areas above 2,000 m (6,500 ft), and CDC recommends prescription prevention medicine for travel there. That puts the Golden Triangle inside the recommendation, even on a short trip. CDC lists atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine. Which one, if any, fits your health and dates is a call for a travel clinic, made 4–6 weeks before departure.
When is dengue season in India?
After the monsoon, for most of the country. The World Health Organization counted 23,470 cases nationwide in September 2026, 72% more than in August. In Delhi, cases climb through September and October, October was the city's worst month in 2025, and in some years November is worse still. Kerala runs earlier. WHO data show its 2025 cases rising from the start of the year and falling after early June.
Is there chikungunya in Kerala right now?
Kerala had an outbreak in August 2026, mostly in Thiruvananthapuram city, which local authorities linked to the monsoon, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control counted 167 more Kerala cases that month. CDC says there is elevated chikungunya risk across India. It says vaccination may be considered only for people staying an extended period, for example 6 months or more. The mosquito that spreads it bites by day, so the daytime repellent habit covers it.
Do I need a Japanese encephalitis vaccine for India?
CDC recommends it for travelers moving to or spending a month or more in areas with Japanese encephalitis, or traveling to them often. It says to consider it for shorter trips that include rural areas, hiking or camping, or lodging without air-conditioning, screens or bed nets, and for travelers unsure of their plans. It does not recommend it for short trips to cities. Bring your itinerary to the travel clinic and ask.
Is it safe to visit India while pregnant?
CDC lists Zika among the bug-borne diseases in India. WHO counted 151 cases in 2024, 125 of them in Pune district in Maharashtra, and has published no India figures for 2025. If you're pregnant, talk to a healthcare provider before you travel, and bring up the malaria recommendation in the same conversation.
Do I need a yellow fever vaccine for India?
Not when you fly from the US. CDC lists no yellow fever risk in India. India does require proof of vaccination from travelers 9 months or older arriving from countries it lists as having yellow fever risk, such as Kenya, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Panama. Travelers without a certificate who arrive within 6 days of leaving such a country can be held in isolation for up to 6 days. If India follows a safari in East Africa, read our Kenya briefing and check the rule before you book.
Sources
Health authorities, surveillance reports and news coverage of official bulletins used for this briefing, last checked October 2026. Traveler reports are linked where they appear. This page summarizes public-health guidance and is not medical advice.
- World Health Organization
- World Health Organization
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- etvbharat.com
- CDC destination page for travelers
- World Health Organization
- World Health Organization
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- World Health Organization
- World Health Organization
- outlookindia.com