Brazil Infectious Disease Trends: Dengue Peaks, TB Deaths Climb

What the numbers show

Dengue is the headline number. In 2024 Brazil logged 6,484,890 probable cases and 5,972 deaths, with 908 more deaths still under investigation, an incidence of 3,193.5 per 100,000 people. São Paulo state alone had 2,182,875 cases (Agência Brasil). The record for deaths had only just been set: 1,079 in 2023, against 1,053 in 2022 (Agência Brasil). For scale, 2013 had 1.3 million cases and 2015 passed 1 million by the end of May (Senate News Agency). Cases then fell to 1.7 million in 2025 (Agência Brasil) and to 470,500 probable cases by 26 September 2026, about 70% down on a year earlier (Agência Brasil).

Other diseases tell different stories. Tuberculosis had 84,368 new cases in 2025 (39.5 per 100,000), but deaths rose to 6,376 in 2024, up from about 4,500 a year in 2014–2020 (Ministry of Health). COVID-19 killed 700,000 people by March 2023 (Agência Brasil). The 2016–17 yellow fever outbreak caused 777 confirmed cases and 261 deaths (Agência Brasil), and the next season was worse: 1,098 cases and 340 deaths by 20 March 2018 (Agência Brasil). Measles reached 10,274 confirmed cases in 2018 (Agência Brasil). In 2009 the new H1N1 flu had killed 192 people by mid-August (Chamber of Deputies). Malaria in 2025 was at its lowest since 1979, with deaths down from 54 to 39 (Agência Brasil).

What is driving it

Mosquitoes drive most of the swings. Aedes aegypti carries dengue, chikungunya and Zika, and in 2026 almost half (49.2%) of the 3,732 municipalities that reported survey data were at alert or risk levels. Most breeding sites were small household containers, water tanks, tyres and rubbish (Agência Brasil). Chikungunya first spread locally in September 2014 (Agência Brasil), and Oropouche, a different virus, had reached 7,653 cases in 2024 by mid-August, with two deaths in Bahia and suspected harm to babies in the womb (Agência Brasil).

Vaccination gaps explain the measles story. Brazil lost its certificate in 2019 after a surge of more than 20,000 cases and won it back in November 2024. First-dose MMR coverage was 93.10% in 2025 (Ministry of Health). For tuberculosis, HIV is a growing factor: 14.0% of new cases in 2025 also had HIV, the highest share on record (Ministry of Health).

Recent cases

• 8 October 2026: The second national Aedes aegypti survey of the year found 49.2% of 3,732 municipalities at alert or risk levels. Probable dengue cases were 470,500 up to 26 September, against 1.5 million a year earlier, and chikungunya fell from 118,885 to about 67,900 (Agência Brasil).
• 6 October 2026: The Ministry of Health stepped up measles action after a US outbreak. Brazil had 52 imported cases in 2026 (41 in São Paulo, 10 in Amazonas, 1 in Rio de Janeiro) but remains free of endemic spread (Ministry of Health).
• 8 June 2026: The ministry suspended Butantan’s dengue vaccine as a precaution. Just over 500,000 doses had been given; 42 people had warning signs, three were hospitalised and two died. A link to the vaccine was not established, and Qdenga use continued (Agência Brasil).

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from federal ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Health, INPE, the Federal Highway Police, CENIPA and the Central Bank, from Agência Brasil, the public news agency, and from the Senate and Chamber news services and state governments; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Headlines are our English translations of the Portuguese originals. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

2026

• 8 Oct 2026Agência BrasilAedes aegypti: almost half of municipalities are on alert or at risk
• 6 Oct 2026Ministry of HealthBrazil steps up measles action amid US outbreak and spread of the disease in the Americas
• 23 Jun 2026Ministry of HealthTuberculosis Epidemiological Bulletin, special issue, March 2026
• 8 Jun 2026Agência BrasilMinistry of Health suspends Butantan dengue vaccine
• 15 Apr 2026Agência BrasilDengue cases in Brazil fall 75% in 2026

2025

• 19 Dec 2025Agência BrasilMinister signs contract to buy Butantan dengue vaccine
• 8 Dec 2025Agência BrasilAnvisa publishes registration of Butantan dengue vaccine
• 25 Jul 2025Agência BrasilMinistry of Health confirms nine measles cases in Tocantins
• 15 Apr 2025Ministry of HealthTuberculosis Epidemiological Bulletin, special issue, March 2025
• 3 Jan 2025Agência BrasilDengue cases in 2024 exceed 6.4 million; deaths total 5,900

2024

• 4 Dec 2024Agência BrasilBrazil has more than 6.5 million probable dengue cases this year
• 16 Aug 2024Agência BrasilOnly five states have yet to report Oropouche cases
• 9 Aug 2024Agência BrasilMinistry of Health records congenital anomaly in baby linked to Oropouche
• 9 Apr 2024Ministry of HealthTuberculosis Epidemiological Bulletin, special issue, March 2024
• 1 Feb 2024Agência BrasilMinistry of Health announces emergency centre to contain dengue epidemic

2023

• 27 Dec 2023Agência BrasilBrazil sets record for dengue deaths in 2023
• 21 Dec 2023Agência BrasilMinistry of Health adds dengue vaccine to the SUS
• 28 Mar 2023Agência BrasilBrazil reaches 700,000 COVID-19 deaths
• 24 Mar 2023Ministry of HealthTuberculosis Epidemiological Bulletin, special issue, March 2023
• 2 Mar 2023Agência BrasilAnvisa approves new dengue vaccine

Photo list

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. Brazil’s national death data come from the Ministry of Health mortality system (SIM/DATASUS) and are usually final about two years later, and some topics, such as fires, have no single national count, so we say which year and source each figure covers. Money is given in reais (R$). Headlines and quotes are our translations from Portuguese. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.