‘Mystery virus’ ravages Cuba leaving hospitals on verge of COLLAPSE as death toll ‘covered up’ and medics silenced
CUBA has been overwhelmed by a disease known as the ‘virus’, leaving hospitals on the brink of collapse as the communist regime is accused of a cover-up.
High fevers, red spots, peeling skin, swollen joints, vomiting and diarrhea are among the symptoms paralyzing the island’s population, but Cubans have no idea what they are suffering from.
This week, the Canadian government announced medical screenings and a quarantine of up to seven days for those returning from the country.
And in December, Spain asked its citizens to stay away from Cuba due to a “serious epidemic.”
Known to many as “the virus”, reports suggest that a third of Cuba’s population has been infected – and the British Medical Journal has described this “surge” as the most serious crisis the country has seen in recent decades.
Cuba has reported 52 deaths from the virus as of December 17, most of them children, and authorities have recently reported more than 38,000 suspected cases of the disease.
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But many Cubans say the real numbers are much higher than the state is willing to admit.
Manuel Cuesta Morúa, a prominent human rights activist in Havana, said the outbreak began in Matanzas about five months ago, where sudden deaths began occurring.
But, he added, the government hid the figures by issuing death certificates that failed to talk about the virus.
He told The Sun: “These deaths were never officially recognized as resulting from the virus and were instead presented as ‘natural causes’.
“It was at the Matanzas provincial hospital that a nurse, later fired from her job and silenced, sounded the alarm about the unusually high number of deaths recorded.”
As the virus spread, the regime remained silent.
In late October, health officials said there were 13,000 new fever cases across the country in a week.
In regions like Camagüey and Holguín, cemeteries were reportedly submerged.
Three months after the disease spread across the island, the Cuban government recognized the crisis as an epidemic.
But the regime still refuses to declare a state of national health emergency.
The disease has been termed a “combined arbovirus” type – in which people are infected with multiple viruses at the same time and it becomes difficult to diagnose.
It is believed to include Dengue, Oropouche and Chikungunya, as well as other infectious respiratory viruses such as H1N influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and Covid-19.
Dengue causes fever, severe headache, pain or pressure behind the eyes, and rash – and, in more severe cases, shock, difficulty breathing, heavy bleeding, and serious organ complications.
Chikungunya, an infection transmitted by osquitos, manifests with fever and intense, debilitating joint pain that can persist for months or even years.
Cuban officials insist these are common illnesses among the islanders.
“They are neither new, nor rare nor unknown,” Public Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda said in October.
He then dismissed speculation of a cover-up, saying: “No one can hide an outbreak or deaths.”
Dengue fever has been endemic in Cuba for two decades and several thousand infections are recorded each year.
But Chikungunya had barely been detected before.
In the capital Havana, a tourist hotspot, Chikungunya infections have become common.
Many tourists arrive from South Florida, especially Miami.
The Florida Department of Health has confirmed 149 cases of Chikungunya among people who traveled to Cuba.
The country faces a profound collapse of essential services
Michael Lima
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the situation requires urgent attention to prevent further spread of the virus.
So far, there is no indication that the epidemic has reached Europe.
Michael Lima, director of the rights-focused NGO Democratic Spaces, works closely with Cuban human rights activists on the island.
He told The Sun that the outbreak is not an “isolated emergency” but highlights more sinister undertones in Cuba that have “been building for years.”
He said: “The country is facing a profound collapse of essential services.
“Chronic power grid failures, widespread shortages of food and medicine, deteriorating sanitation services, breakdowns in garbage collection, environmental sanitation and severe social distress. »
A nurse at a clinic in Matanzas told El Pais: “It’s not a lie to say that we are dying. »
Additionally, Melissa – one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Caribbean – hit the island in November 2025, causing significant flooding.
A nurse, later fired from her job and silenced, raised the alarm over the unusually high number of deaths recorded.
Manuel Cuesta Morua
Trash cans overflowed onto the streets as water treatment stopped, creating ideal conditions for mosquitoes – accelerating infections.
With daily power outages, Cuba lacks fuel for fumigation while insecticides are in short supply.
It comes as Donald Trump issued a stark warning to the Latin American state that Cuba is “ready to fall” without military action.
Cuba is experiencing its highest levels of repression in decades, according to Amnesty International.
Independent NGOs are not allowed to operate freelyLima said, and the free press is being stifled.
He added: “In this context, there is no transparency, no accountability, no early warning mechanisms or independent monitoring – particularly dangerous conditions in a public health emergency.
“This crisis is not accidental.”
In a country with a collapsed health system, 70,000 health workers have resigned and more than 30,000 doctors have emigrated over the past three years.
Meanwhile, hospitals closed, including Aballí Children’s Hospital in Arroyo Naranjo, and others found themselves overcrowded with patients.
Manuel said: “Authorities waited months to publicly acknowledge the scale of the chikungunya outbreak and initially downplayed its severity, leaving citizens to rely on social media and independent media outlets for information.
“Even after acknowledging the outbreak, official updates remained opaque, offering limited data on hospitalizations, regional spread, or deaths. »
This has led many Cubans to accuse the regime of a cover-up.
In October, Cuban intellectual Alina Bárbara López posted on Facebook that authorities were “manipulating” the “extremely serious situation” in Matanzas, the city where she lives.
She said: “The order to deprive the deceased of “arbovirus” is given.
“We have a hungry, aging and stressed population who have long gone without medications to treat their chronic illnesses.
“As the epidemic grew from city to city, they hardly sold paracetamol or rehydrating salts in pharmacies.
“Such a scenario makes possible deaths that would not have occurred at any other time.
“If, as the authorities say, the number of deaths has not increased, how can we explain that at the Faustino Pérez Provincial Hospital a ‘bottling’ occurred at the morgue last weekend because they took time to bring the coffins, because the people who put them in were also sick.
“Is it common for so many people to die on a weekend?
The Sun has contacted the Cuban Foreign Ministry for comment.
What is a “combined arbovirus”?
COMBINED arbovirus is not a single disease, but a category of infections sharing similar characteristics, symptoms, and methods of transmission.
The term describes a patient’s condition that fits the profile of an insect-borne viral infection before a specific virus has been formally identified.
Most arbovirus diseases follow a standard “incubation” period. After being bitten by an infected mosquito or tick, symptoms usually appear within 3 to 14 days.
Doctors treat them as a “combination” group because they are clinically indistinguishable. at first.
Arboviral diseases generally present in three ways:
- Systemic/febrile (most common): A sudden flu-like illness.
- High fever and chills.
- Severe headache (often behind the eyes).
- Muscle pain (myalgia) and joint pain (arthralgia).
- Rash and fatigue that can last for weeks.
- Neuroinvasive (most serious): The virus enters the central nervous system.
- Meningitis: Neck stiffness, fever and sensitivity to light.
- Encephalitis: Confusion, altered mental status, seizures or tremors.
- Paralysis: Sudden weakness of the limbs, similar to polio.
- Hemorrhagic (specific viruses): Seen in diseases like dengue or yellow fever.
- Unexplained bruising, bleeding gums or internal bleeding.
