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Delhi recorded 1,083 dengue cases between 1 January and 31 October 2026, according to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s weekly vector-borne disease report. No deaths from dengue or malaria have been reported so far this year. The more striking figure is from the city’s door-to-door checks: mosquito breeding was found in more than 2.21 lakh homes.

Close-up of a mosquito biting human skin

The count so far

The MCD report, carried by PTI on 3 November, logged 90 fresh dengue cases in the week ending 31 October. That was almost level with the 92 cases of the week before, which suggests the season has not yet turned decisively.

Most cases fall within MCD limits, which account for 964 of the 1,083. Delhi Cantonment reported 87, Railways 19 and the NDMC area 13. Among MCD zones, Central leads with 135 cases, followed by Najafgarh with 129 and South with 115.

Dengue is not the only mosquito-borne illness on the list. Delhi has also recorded 355 malaria cases and 39 chikungunya cases this year, with 18 new malaria cases in the latest week. The report adds one new chikungunya case for the same seven days.

Breeding begins at home

Between January and October, MCD workers made more than 3.66 crore house visits to check for mosquito breeding. They found breeding conditions in over 2.21 lakh houses. By PBTrendz’s calculation, that works out to roughly one positive finding for every 165 visits. It also means inspectors found breeding in about 200 homes for every confirmed dengue case this year.

The civic body also sprayed insecticide in 38.27 lakh houses over the same period. It issued more than 1.48 lakh legal notices and launched 30,000 prosecutions against people whose premises were found breeding mosquitoes.

Those enforcement numbers matter because the Aedes mosquito that spreads dengue breeds in small pools of clean, standing water, the kind found in coolers, flower pots and water tanks inside homes. Spraying streets alone cannot reach them.

Level with last year

The 2026 count is close to last year’s. A report published on 4 November 2025 put Delhi’s dengue tally for that year at 1,136, with two deaths. October 2025 alone saw 377 cases, the highest of any month that year.

Both years look mild next to 2024. In October 2024, Delhi recorded 2,431 dengue cases in a single month, more than double this year’s total for ten months.

Deaths tell a similar story. By 20 December 2025, Delhi had logged 1,469 dengue cases and four deaths for the year, compared with 11 deaths in 2024. The city recorded 19 dengue deaths in 2023, nine in 2022 and 23 in 2021.

The national picture

Delhi is a small part of India’s dengue burden. Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel told the Rajya Sabha in December 2025 that India recorded 1,13,440 dengue cases and 94 deaths between January and November 2025.

The south carried the heaviest load that year. Tamil Nadu reported the most cases at 20,866, followed by Maharashtra with 13,333 and Kerala with 10,239. Kerala recorded the most deaths, 49, ahead of Maharashtra with 13 and Tamil Nadu with 12.

The Centre’s full count for 2026 is likely to come later, through Parliament replies and the national vector-borne disease programme’s data.

What to watch

The season is not over. Last year, Delhi’s count rose from 1,136 in early November to 1,469 by 20 December, which means more than 330 cases came after this point in the calendar. At 90 new cases a week, a similar tail is possible in 2026.

The next few weekly MCD reports will show whether fresh cases start falling as temperatures drop, and whether the city can end the year without a dengue death. Last year it could not.

The enforcement figures are worth tracking too. With breeding found in more than 2.21 lakh homes this year, the number of notices and prosecutions will show how hard the civic body is pressing households through the rest of the season.