After 2025's chikungunya epidemic, Réunion is quiet again.
WHO counted 54,555 confirmed cases in 2025, and about two-thirds of residents are now estimated to have been infected. In 2026 Santé publique France has reported only sporadic chikungunya and dengue. A daytime repellent habit covers the beaches, and the cirques add ticks and river water to the checklist.
Yes. Réunion has the day-biting Asian tiger mosquito, the species WHO says drove most of the Indian Ocean chikungunya wave, and in 2025 the island had its first local chikungunya transmission since 2010, in a major epidemic. That epidemic is over. In 2026 Santé publique France, the French national public-health agency, has reported only sporadic chikungunya and dengue, and there is no malaria.
After the 2025 epidemic
The 2025 epidemic was very large. The World Health Organization counted 54,555 confirmed cases and 43 deaths by December 5, 2025, citing Réunion's regional health agency, and the epidemic had been waning since late April. A 2025 blood-test survey estimated that 66% of residents had been infected, from 58.1% in the north to 74.3% in the west, where the main beach resorts are. With that much immunity, the regional health agency judged a new large epidemic unlikely in the 2025–26 summer. So far 2026 has matched that, with only sporadic cases, a few dozen confirmed by mid-October. There is no current CDC travel notice for Réunion, and CDC's Réunion page says chikungunya vaccination is generally not recommended and that all travelers should prevent mosquito bites.
Dengue is sporadic too. ECDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, counted 341 confirmed cases in 2026 by the end of August, and Santé publique France's October 23 bulletin showed 0, 2 and 0 cases in the three most recent weeks, with no sign of sustained transmission. Réunion isn't on the CDC's global dengue list. As a French department, part of France and the EU, it shares France's health system and its national disease surveillance.
Hiking the cirques and the volcano
The cirques of Cilaos, Salazie and Mafate and the Piton de la Fournaise volcano are hiking country at altitude. Mosquitoes tend to be fewer in the highlands than in coastal towns and on beaches. Wooded river valleys and bamboo thickets can still bite hard, and numbers tend to rise a day or two after rain, so wear repellent on valley trails too.
Two non-mosquito items matter on the trails. CDC lists African tick-bite fever for Réunion, so use repellent on your legs and check for ticks after hiking through grass and brush. And Santé publique France counted 250 leptospirosis cases, including 3 deaths, in 2026 by late October. You can pick it up from fresh water and floodwater, and CDC also lists melioidosis. Avoid wading in rivers and floodwater after rain, which matters most on canyoning trips and river hikes.
The beaches and when to go
On the west-coast beaches at Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, L'Hermitage and Saint-Leu, and in Saint-Denis, the biters are day-flying Aedes, with peaks in the morning and late afternoon. Put repellent on over sunscreen at breakfast, again after swimming and again before dusk. Our dengue & Zika routine has the full schedule.
Roughly May to November, the cooler, drier season, tends to be the easier time, and in 2026 both viruses stayed sporadic through October. January to April, the hot, rainy summer, is when Réunion's epidemics have peaked, so check Santé publique France or the CDC notices page before a trip in those months.
Where you're going
West coast: Saint-Gilles, L'Hermitage & Saint-Leu
The main beach resorts, in the part of the island with the highest 2025 infection rate, so local immunity is probably high now. Cases have been sporadic island-wide in 2026; keep the daytime repellent habit at the beach.
The cirques & Piton de la Fournaise
Hiking country at altitude, where mosquitoes tend to be fewer. Wooded river valleys can still bite, so check for ticks after the trail and stay out of rivers after rain.
Saint-Denis
The capital and arrival airport, with sporadic dengue and chikungunya in 2026. A day in town calls for the same morning and late-afternoon repellent as the coast.
Pairing Réunion with Mauritius? Mauritius's 2026 chikungunya outbreak was far larger than Réunion's, as our Mauritius briefing explains. For other island stops, see our Seychelles and Maldives briefings.
The Réunion kit
- Picaridin 20% travel sprays: odorless, layers over sunscreen and light enough for a day pack. One 3.4 oz bottle covers about a week of daily use for one person.
- Permethrin for hiking clothes: treat trousers and socks at home 48 hours before you fly. Treated fabric repels and kills insects through several washes. It never goes on skin.
- Light long hiking trousers for brush and river valleys, where ticks and mosquitoes find bare legs.
What travelers report
Paraphrased from TripAdvisor forum threads and linked so you can read them in full. Neither is dated, and bites change with altitude, rain and season.
- Réunion (wooded riverside area) · after rain
In a thread about the chikungunya epidemic, a traveler said they were bitten heavily in a wooded area with bamboo by a river but not in town; another poster said mosquito numbers rise a day or two after rain. TripAdvisor ↗
- Réunion highlands vs coast
A resident said mosquito risk depends on altitude and season, with fewer mosquitoes in the highlands than in coastal towns and on beaches. TripAdvisor ↗
Any fever or joint pain during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Réunion, and whether you waded in rivers or went canyoning.
Traveler questions
Is chikungunya still a risk in Réunion?
Low, for now. After the 2025 epidemic, a survey estimated that about two-thirds of residents had been infected, and Santé publique France has reported only sporadic cases in 2026. There is no CDC travel notice, and CDC says chikungunya vaccination is generally not recommended for Réunion. Epidemics have peaked from January to April, so check the latest bulletin or the CDC notices page before a trip in those months.
Are there mosquitoes in the cirques and on the volcano?
Fewer than on the coast. Mosquitoes tend to thin out with altitude, though wooded river valleys and bamboo can still bite hard, especially a day or two after rain. CDC lists African tick-bite fever for Réunion, so use repellent on your legs and check for ticks after hikes through grass and brush.
Is there dengue in Réunion?
Yes, at sporadic levels. ECDC counted 341 confirmed cases in 2026 by the end of August, and Santé publique France reports no sign of sustained transmission. Réunion isn't on the CDC's global dengue list. Dengue and chikungunya spread through the same day-biting mosquitoes, so one daytime repellent routine covers both.
Do I need malaria pills or vaccines for Réunion?
The CDC's Réunion page has no malaria section and recommends no malaria medicine, and it doesn't recommend or require the yellow fever vaccine. It says chikungunya vaccination is generally not recommended. If you add a side trip to Mayotte, a separate French department, the CDC has an active Level 2 malaria notice there, so see a travel clinic 4–6 weeks before departure.
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.
- CDC Travel Health Notice
- Health authority (santepubliquefrance.fr)
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- CDC destination page for travelers
- World Health Organization
- Health authority (santepubliquefrance.fr)
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- World Health Organization
- CDC Travelers' Health