Uzbekistan has few mosquitoes. The sand fly is the bug to know.

Are there mosquitoes in Uzbekistan? A few, mostly at night near water such as Aydarkul lake, and the Silk Road cities tend to be light on bites. The World Health Organization certified Uzbekistan malaria-free in 2018, and the CDC lists it among areas with no mosquitoes that spread Zika, the same species that carry dengue. The insect worth planning around is the phlebotomine sand fly, which spreads cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin infection, in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions and the south.

Sand flies and leishmaniasis

The CDC's Uzbekistan page lists leishmaniasis, spread by sand fly bites. A 2026 paper in Parasites, Hosts and Diseases names the cutaneous form as endemic in the Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya, Jizzakh, Samarkand and Bukhara regions and in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and says the visceral form, nearly eradicated by earlier control efforts, is re-emerging. Researchers writing in 2024 described reported cases as rising. Tashkent and Khorezm, the region around Khiva, aren't on that endemic list.

A 2020–2023 survey caught 2,905 sand flies of nine species inside village homes in July and August, in the Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya, Jizzakh and Samarkand regions, where local cases occur. Phlebotomus sergenti, which carries one form of the cutaneous disease, made up about two-thirds of the catch in Jizzakh and Samarkand. In the Bukhara region, the parasite Leishmania major was confirmed in patients in 2022. Because the survey sites were village homes, the old-town sights of Samarkand and Bukhara are likely lower-risk than a summer homestay in the countryside.

Sand flies bite quietly from dusk to dawn and are rarely noticed. From late spring to early fall, and most of all in July and August, put DEET 20–30% or picaridin 20% on exposed skin before sunset, wear long sleeves and pants in the evening, and pick an air-conditioned or well-screened room. Sand flies can be small enough to slip through ordinary mosquito netting, so a closed, air-conditioned room tends to do more than a bed net. Our picaridin vs. DEET comparison explains the choice.

The CDC's page also lists Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, spread by ticks and by contact with the body fluids of an infected person or animal. On farm stays, at livestock markets and on rural walks, avoid handling livestock and check for ticks afterward.

When to go

April–May and September–October tend to be the easiest months, warm rather than hot in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, with sand flies less active. June to August is the hardest stretch. July temperatures run 95–104 °F (35–40 °C), the sand fly survey's catch came in July and August, and the yurt camps at Aydarkul lake, often a stop between Samarkand and Bukhara, bring night mosquitoes. December to February tends to be cold and close to bite-free.

Where you're going

How the main Silk Road stops compare.

Continuing to Türkiye or China? Our Türkiye and China briefings cover the night-biting sand flies on the Turkish coast and China's summer dengue in the south.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from a TripAdvisor thread and linked so you can read it in full. It's several years old and isn't dated to a season.

• Aydarkul lake and Uzbek cities

  A reply in a thread asking whether mosquitoes are a problem said mosquitoes and flies are usually a problem only around Aydarkul lake, that the cities are not much of a headache and hotels have no mosquitoes, and advised taking a mosquito spray if spending the night outdoors near the water. The thread is several years old. TripAdvisor ↗

Two rules outlast the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Uzbekistan. And have a doctor look at any skin sore that doesn't heal in the weeks after you get home, mentioning where you traveled.

Traveler questions