The order included mosquito repellent products during the peak of the crisis
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, December 17, 2025 — The Cuban government included supplies to fight the chikungunya and dengue epidemic affecting the island in an international appeal for aid following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, but without specifying its true purpose, according to documents obtained by EFE.
The Ministry of Public Health sent a list to some embassies and United Nations agencies on the island that included large quantities of chemicals to combat mosquitoes, the vector for the transmission of both diseases.
That list for Melissa is dated October 27 — right in the peak week of the epidemic, according to official statistics released weeks later — even though the Cuban government would take 17 more days to first classify the outbreak as an “epidemic.”
In fact, the government has not formally declared any kind of health emergency, despite the evident strain on the hospital system. The number of cases registered in the epidemic has already surpassed 70,000, and the death toll has reached 47—mostly minors—according to the Ministry of Public Health itself.
Most of the deaths have occurred among minors
The list, titled “Major Needs for the National Health Service’s Response to Hurricane Melissa,” is a four-page table that includes multiple health-related chapters.
Under the heading of “Hygiene and Epidemiology,” the Ministry listed 200 tons of the larvicide Abate at 1%, and 40 tons of the insecticide cypermethrin at 25%. Both chemicals are particularly effective in combating mosquito infestations.
Independent experts consulted by EFE – both Cuban and foreign, from the academic and business worlds – agree that these amounts are very high and seem more intended for a national campaign than to contain possible mosquito breeding grounds after a hurricane.
They point out that for indoor fumigation with bazookas, the most common method in Cuba, between 5 and 10 milliliters of cypermethrin are used per liter of diesel. Consequently, the requested amount would be enough for between 666,000 and 1,333,000 bazookas.
In the case of Abate, the usual dosages vary between 5 and 50 kilos per hectare depending on the depth and contamination of the water. At an average of 20 kilos per hectare, the requested amount would be enough to treat 100 square kilometers of relatively deep water with organic matter.
The government has acknowledged that the crisis the country is suffering has affected the fumigation campaigns.
The Cuban government has acknowledged in recent weeks that the crisis the country is suffering has affected traditional fumigation campaigns and that the country has had problems with supplies and personnel to carry them out.
EFE contacted the Cuban government to inquire about the list, but has not yet received a response. The media also requested an interview with an official from the Ministry of Public Health, but this request has also gone unanswered.
To date, no country or multilateral agency appears to have responded to the Cuban request on this specific point.
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