Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
The United States has issued a Level-2 travel alert for Bangladesh and three other regions amid a surge in chikungunya cases, a mosquito-borne viral disease with no cure, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The advisory, reported by Fox News, also applies to Cuba, Sri Lanka and China’s southern Guangdong Province, where infections have risen sharply. Travellers have been advised to take enhanced precautions against mosquito bites and consider vaccination before travel.
Health experts say chikungunya typically causes high fever and severe joint pain, which can persist long-term. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the disease may lead to severe complications, organ damage and death in some cases.
Between January and September 2025, WHO recorded 445,000 suspected and confirmed cases globally, along with 155 deaths. In Bangladesh, around 700 suspected cases were reported in Dhaka during the same period. Guangdong Province has reported 16,000 locally transmitted cases, the largest outbreak in China’s history. The CDC also cautioned that travellers to Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand face elevated risk.