Florida Travel Vaccines

Florida Travel Vaccines 2025

The Florida Department of Health (FDH) updated its Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Surveillance Report in March 2025, saying that although vaccinated individuals can still become infected with diseases, in general, those who have been immunized have less severe outcomes than those who have never been vaccinated. FDH published its Arbovirus Surveillance update #11 on March 15, 2025, disclosing mosquito-borne diseases, including Eastern equine encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya, dengue fever, malaria, California encephalitis group viruses (CEV), yellow fever, West Nile virus, and Rift Valley fever.

Florida Mosquito Advisories 

In Florida, 14 species of Anopheles mosquitoes have been found to transmit infectious diseases to humans. As of March 20, 2025, Miami-Dade County remains under a mosquito-borne illness alert, which may expire in December 2025. Duval, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Pasco counties are also under an alert.

Florida Travel Vaccination Requirements

As of March 15, 2025, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Canada Health, and the United Kingdom have not issued vaccination requirements for visiting Florida. The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Transportation Services Administration (TSA) have not issued safety advisories for traveling to Florida in 2025.

Florida Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks

Chikungunya—Eleven cases of chikungunya onset in 2024 have been reported in individuals with a travel history to Brazil (five), India (five), and Pakistan. Florida counties reporting chikungunya cases were Broward, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Pinellas, and Hillsborough. Four travel-related Chikungunya cases were reported in 2023 and one in 2022. Florida providers have limited access to Chikungunya virus diagnosis tests, often mistaken for Dengue.

Dengue Fever - In 2025, forty-four cases of dengue fever were reported among persons who had international travel, and (1) locally acquired dengue cases were reported in Miami-Dade County. As of December 2024, 1,016 travel-associated dengue cases were reported, mainly by Brazil, Cuba (567), and Puerto Rico visitors. In 2024, 91 locally acquired dengue cases were reported from ten counties (Miami-Dade (50), Hillsborough (Tampa), Manatee, Monroe, Orange, Pasco (13), and Broward. Most dengue cases are serotyped as DENV-3 (396) and 4. In 2023, 609 travel-associated dengue cases were reported, and 186 humans contracted Dengue while in Florida.

Leprosy - Florida reports the most leprosy (Hansen's disease) cases in the U.S., generally in Brevard County, which reported 13% of the nation's 159 leprosy cases in 2020. There are no U.S. FDA vaccines for leprosy. However, BCG vaccination offers some protection against the disease.

Malaria - As of March 2025, eight travel-related malaria cases have been confirmed in Florida. In 2024, 72 cases of travel-related malaria were reported in individuals with a history of visiting malaria-endemic areas, such as Africa (Nigeria) and Central and South America. In 2023, seven locally acquired malaria cases were reported near Sarasota, along with 78 malaria travel-related cases. The U.S. CDC published a report on September 8, 2023, Outbreak of Locally Acquired Mosquito-Transmitted Malaria.

Measles - The Florida Department of Health in Broward County confirmed about ten measles cases in early 2024.

Mpox - Since the beginning of 2024, Florida has identified 184 cases of mpox across 12 counties. In 2023, the CDC reported 75 clade II mpox cases in Florida.

Oropouche Fever—As of December 2024, 103 cases of Oropouche fever were reported in individuals who had traveled to an endemic area such as Cuba. The Florida counties reporting cases were Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, Miami-Dade (61), Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Polk, and Sarasota.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus - The Florida Department of Health segments RSV reports into five regions. As of October 2024, RSV activity and hospitalizations had increased throughout Florida, and there was one outbreak in Miami-Dade County. 

Vibrio vulnificus - Florida reported 83 cases (18 in Pinellas County) and 18 fatalities in 2024. In 2022, 74 cases and 17 deaths were confirmed in Florida. Vibrio vulnificus is a naturally occurring bacteria found in warm, brackish seawater.

West Nile Virus—In 2024, eighteen human cases of WNV illness were acquired in Florida. Seven positive samples were confirmed from seven humans in 2023. Six WNV-positive samples were collected from six humans in 2022. Ten human cases of WNV were reported in Florida in 2021.

Zika Fever - In 2025 and 2024, no cases of Zika fever were reported. Zika continues to be detected off Florida's east coast in Puerto Rico and other locations in the Americas.

Disease-Spreading Mosquito Prevention in Florida

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control-Oxitec Mosquito Project began in April 2021. It releases and evaluates the effectiveness of Oxitec's Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as disease-carrying vectors. In the three pilot seasons, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District and Oxitec have demonstrated that Oxitec's non-biting, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can reduce the local abundance of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, reducing the risk of dengue and malaria infection. These male mosquito releases followed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval in March 2022.