In a recent development, U.S. health authorities have issued travel advisories for Americans considering visits to certain tropical destinations due to outbreaks of a mosquito-borne disease that currently has no available treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday that it has implemented Level 2 travel advisories for several regions, including Cuba, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Guangdong Province in southern China. The CDC is urging travelers to these areas to “practice enhanced precautions” to safeguard their health.

While there are no direct treatments for chikungunya, health officials highlight that the disease can be prevented through vaccination. Therefore, receiving the vaccine is strongly recommended for those planning to travel to the affected regions.

Chikungunya commonly manifests symptoms such as fever and joint pain. However, individuals may also experience headaches, muscle pain, joint swelling, or skin rashes. Symptoms usually emerge three to seven days following a mosquito bite from an infected carrier, with most individuals recovering within a week.

The advisory serves as a crucial reminder for travelers to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions to avoid health risks during their travels.

In severe cases, some may experience severe joint pain lasting months or even years while others “may require hospitalization because of the risk of organ damage and death,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to an Oct. 3 notice from WHO, there have been 445,000 suspected and confirmed cases of chikungunya and 155 deaths worldwide between January and September 2025.

In Bangladesh, WHO reported 700 suspected chikungunya cases in the capital, Dhaka, between January and September 2025, citing the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

A worker sprays in a residential area to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya on Oct. 14, 2025, in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province of China. (VCG)

As of late September, a total of 16,000 locally transmitted chikungunya cases have been confirmed in Guangdong Province, China, marking the largest documented outbreak of the disease in the country to date.

Between January and late September, 34 confirmed cases of chikungunya were reported in Cuba, and public health interventions have been implemented to contain the outbreak. 

In Sri Lanka, a total of 150 confirmed chikungunya cases were reported between Jan. 1 and the second week of March 2025, WHO said, adding that cases reportedly peaked in June.

A picture of a mosquito taken on Aug. 23, 2016. (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP)

The CDC warned that Americans traveling to Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand may also face an increased risk of chikungunya infection, even if no outbreak is currently reported.

The U.S. has not seen any locally acquired chikungunya cases in its states or territories since 2019.