Yemen’s health workers race to halt latest outbreak of deadly dengue fever

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports from Mukalla, Yemen, that health teams are trying to contain a new dengue fever outbreak by tracking mosquito breeding sites in crowded neighborhoods such as Al-Koud. The report follows Salem bin Shabz, an insect surveillance officer with the provincial National Malaria Control Programme, as his team checks stagnant water in drains and uncovered storage tanks for larvae linked to dengue and malaria transmission.

The campaign in government-controlled areas includes surveillance, public education, insecticide spraying, larval control and training for medical staff. Al Jazeera cites the Aden-based Electronic Integrated Disease Early Warning System as recording 7,815 suspected dengue cases and 33 deaths from January 4 to July 18, 2026. Hadramout had the highest reported burden, with 2,204 cases, followed by Aden, Abyan, Shabwa and Taiz.

Hospitals are also under pressure. Mohammed Omer, who heads the laboratory at Mukalla’s government-run Ibn Sina Hospital, told Al Jazeera the facility saw more than 60 suspected cases in a day during the May peak. He said some patients arrived late because they lacked money for care or mistook early symptoms for a routine fever. Mohammed Salem Hadi of the NMCP office in Shabwa described similar obstacles, including limited funding, low awareness and delayed treatment.

The outbreak matters because Yemen’s health system has already been weakened by years of conflict, underfunding and repeated disease emergencies. Experts cited by Al Jazeera said poor sanitation, stagnant water, household water storage and humidity make mosquito control difficult, while dengue treatment mainly relies on supportive care rather than a specific cure.