Health workers in Yemen are scrambling to stop the latest outbreak of dengue fever Health Issues

Mukalla, Yemen Under the hot sun and humidity, Salem bin Shabz and his team of health workers walk slowly through the narrow streets of Al-Koud, a densely populated area in the Yemeni port city of Mukalla.

Whenever he sees a pool of still water, he stops and looks at the towel. Armed with mosquito nets and other containers, they are on the hunt for mosquito breeding grounds for the deadly dengue fever epidemic.

Makalla has been one of the areas most affected by dengue fever in Yemen, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and death.

Bin Shabz is kneeling next to the opening chamber where stagnant water, coming out of the air conditioner, has turned green after weeks of standing.

He dips a ladle in water and pours the contents into a shallow metal tray. Within minutes, the tiny larvae begin to roll to the surface.

“These are mosquito larvae,” bin Shabz, an entomologist at the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) office, told Al Jazeera.

“This species is Anopheles, which spreads malaria, while the other is Aedes, the mosquito that spreads dengue fever.

The findings confirm the group’s fears: Al-Koud has become a breeding ground for dengue and malaria mosquitoes, despite repeated campaigns to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We carried out an anti-mosquito campaign in the area two months ago, including public awareness, spraying with insecticides and efforts to eliminate breeding grounds,” said bin Shabz. “Now we have come back and found that many breeding grounds are still there.”

After removing the room, the group pushes it deeper into the joint. A few minutes later, they stopped outside a house where there was an uncovered water tank. Bin Shabz lowers a long handheld dipper into the tank and transfers another sample to a metal tray.

“The tank has malaria and dengue worms,” ​​confirms bin Shabz. He asks a group of curious children to take the landlord to explain the dangers of leaving the water tank exposed and cover the container. “A simple act like covering the tank can help protect his family and their neighbors from dengue,” he said.

To his dismay, the owner of the house is not there, so bin Shabz leaves a message for the neighbors. But the mosquito breeding ground will remain untouched until the owner is found.

“People don’t agree with us,” he said. “In towns, many people are still sleeping when we visit in the morning, while others are far from their homes.

Anti-dengue fever

The vector control team in Mukalla is part of an international campaign in government-controlled areas of Yemen to stop the new outbreak of dengue fever. The campaign includes monitoring of mosquito breeding sites and awareness activities, spraying insecticides, deworming, and training health workers to detect and treat dengue in local hospitals and clinics.

According to the Aden-based Electronic Integrated Disease Early Warning System (eIDEWS), which monitors disease outbreaks in government-controlled areas of Yemen, 7,815 suspected cases of dengue and 33 deaths were recorded between January 4 and July 18, 2026. Abyan (962), Shabwa (951) and Taiz (770).

The dengue fever epidemic has added to the strain on Yemen’s already weak health system, which has been pushed to the brink of years of war, lack of funding and repeated outbreaks of disease.

Thousands of suspected dengue patients have sought treatment at hospitals in Aden, Taiz, Abyan and Hadramout, forcing health workers to cope with the operation despite limited funds.

Mr. Mohammed Omer, who is the head of the laboratory at the Ibn Sina Hospital in Mukalla, recalled that at its peak in the month of May, the hospital received more than 60 suspected dengue cases in one day. It placed a heavy burden on the hospital’s medical department, which serves patients from the districts of Hadramout, Shabwa and Al Mahra.

“During a 24-hour shift, we used one and a half boxes of dengue test kits to collect samples from 65 suspected dengue patients,” Omer told Al Jazeera.

“Patients come to our clinic because we provide free services, including laboratory tests, consultations and patient care,” he said.

Despite the availability of free treatment, many patients still arrive at the hospital with serious complications, often because they are delayed in receiving treatment. Economic problems prevented some from going to the hospital, while others initially attributed their symptoms to a common fever.

“Many arrived late because they did not have money to buy medicine, while others thought it was just malaria and only went to the hospital when they started suffering from severe dengue with blood symptoms, including nosebleeds.

Mr Mohammed Salem Hadi, head of the NMCP office, said dengue control efforts in Shabwa district continue to be hampered by limited funds, low public awareness and patients delaying treatment until their disease becomes severe. This is a problem that exists in Yemen.

“Many patients do not seek medical care until they have severe dengue and haemorrhagic complications. This is often because they live far from hospitals, or because the disease is misdiagnosed as another disease,” Al Jazeera said.

Challenges in the fight against dengue

Recurring dengue outbreaks have raised questions about why Yemen continues to fight dengue or reduce the number of people who die from the disease.

Health experts and frontline workers attribute this to a number of factors, including the way mosquitoes transmit the virus, years of conflict that have weakened the country’s health system, inadequate vector control programs, poor sanitation and stagnant water. There is also the problem of health workers not knowing much about dengue prevention and the need to go to the hospital early.

Abdulla bin Ghouth, a professor of community medicine at the University of Hadramout, said that dengue is very common in Yemen and that the country’s fight against the disease is mainly due to its natural environment.

“There is no specific treatment for dengue fever; treatment is focused on managing symptoms and removing excess fluid. There is also no specific vaccine to prevent it,” he told Al Jazeera. “These factors, combined with environmental factors such as indoor water retention and high humidity, make the disease difficult to control.”

As he and his friends pack their weapons and go in search of other mosquito breeding grounds, bin Shabz admits that getting rid of the pests is a big challenge.

Mosquito breeding grounds are often hidden or difficult to find, he said, but Yemen’s economic collapse and the collapse of public services have made the problem worse.

“Many people cannot afford to build high-quality, well-sealed water tanks, so they rely on poorly constructed, uncovered tanks or even open ponds to store water,” he said. “The lack of water has forced many people to store water at home, which has created a breeding ground for mosquitoes.”