Madeira's dengue mosquito lives on the sunny south coast. The levadas are above it.

Yes, along the south coast. Madeira is one of the few places in Europe with an established population of Aedes aegypti, the day-biting mosquito that spreads dengue, and it lives in Funchal and the warm, built-up towns on either side. It drove an outbreak of more than 2,000 cases in 2012 and two local cases in 2025, and none have been reported in 2026 through October 21.

Dengue on Madeira: 2012, 2025 and now

The mosquito was first found near Funchal in 2005. It reached Santa Cruz, near the airport, by 2008 and Paúl do Mar in the west by 2012. In the fall of 2012, dengue brought in from Venezuela set off the first sustained local transmission in the EU since the 1920s, centered on Funchal and its neighbors. Official counts put the outbreak at more than 2,000 cases, with no deaths.

The next local cases came in January 2025, when two women in one Funchal household fell ill. Dengue virus type 2, new to Madeira, turned up in mosquitoes caught nearby later that month, and the regional health authorities announced the cases on February 18, 2025. An INSA-led study published in 2026 found no further infected mosquitoes or local cases through August 2025, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) lists no local dengue on Madeira in 2026.

CDC has a separate page for the Madeira Islands. It lists dengue among the diseases spread by bugs, with "Mosquito bite" as the way it spreads and "Avoid bug bites" as the advice. It has no malaria section. For yellow fever it says "Vaccine is not recommended" and "Vaccine is not required." Madeira isn't on CDC's global dengue notice list. The April 2026 ECDC/EFSA map marks the tiger mosquito as absent from the island.

The coast by day, the mountains clear

Aedes aegypti bites in daylight, with peaks in the morning and late afternoon. On Madeira it breeds mainly in the saucers under flower pots, so balconies, courtyards and hotel gardens are where to expect it. In Funchal and the south-coast towns, put repellent on over sunscreen in the morning and again in the afternoon, feet and ankles included, and keep balcony doors closed or screened. The house mosquito, Culex, adds the odd bite at night through open windows. Our dengue & Zika routine has the full daily schedule.

The levadas are another matter. About 90% of Madeira lies above 1,640 feet (500 m), and the dengue mosquito hasn't been recorded on the cooler, wetter high ground or in the island's northern half. On a mountain walk from Pico do Arieiro or Rabaçal, repellent is optional.

Month by month

The dengue mosquito keeps a clear season on Madeira. Surveillance shows little to no activity from January to May and a single peak from about June to early December. February to May brings the fewest bites. September to November is the worst stretch, when mosquito numbers and the potential for dengue spread are highest, and the 2012 outbreak peaked in November. Winter still carries a little risk, since the 2025 cases began in January, when mosquito numbers were low.

Where you're staying

How the main areas compare across the year.

The Portugal briefing covers Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. Weighing other Atlantic islands? Our Canary Islands briefing covers Spain's.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from a TripAdvisor forum thread and linked so you can read it in full. It isn't dated, and bites in Funchal vary with the season and the weather.

• Funchal Old Town

  The original poster was bitten on the feet and ankles after a first trip to Funchal's Old Town; one reply said bites often seem to come shortly after the rains reach coastal Funchal, another recommended antihistamine, and one suggested a little lemon juice. TripAdvisor ↗

Two last notes. If you're flying in from a country where dengue is common, the authors of the 2026 Madeira study ask travelers to keep using repellent for at least a week after arrival, so an infection isn't passed to local mosquitoes. And a fever during the trip or within two weeks of returning means a doctor visit, and you tell the doctor you were in Madeira.

Traveler questions