Related videos:
The province of Pinar del Río is seeing an increase in suspected cases of hepatitis A in the municipalities of Pinar del Río and San Luis, according to a report from Radio Guamá that raises alarms in the area.
According to the Facebook post by state journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, provincial health authorities warned about the risk of virus transmission and urged the public to enhance hygiene measures.
The specialist Belkys González Robaina urged to chlorinate drinking water, wash hands frequently, and rest in case of illness.
Hepatitis A is transmitted through contaminated water or food and through direct contact between individuals, making it a particularly dangerous disease in contexts of water crises such as the one being experienced in Pinar del Río.
A second note from Radio Guamá also reported an increase in suspicious cases in Minas de Matahambre and in the provincial capital itself, indicating that the phenomenon is spreading to several municipalities in the province.
The situation is not coincidental: residents of Entronque de Herradura, in Consolación del Sur, have been without regular access to drinking water for over two years, power outages last up to 30 consecutive hours —rendering the water pumps inoperative— and a water truck costs 4,000 pesos, an amount unaffordable for most families.
This combination of lack of drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and prolonged power outages creates ideal conditions for the spread of fecal-oral transmission diseases such as hepatitis A.
The Pinar del Río outbreak is part of a national escalation that has remained unresolved for over a year. In December 2024, the Ministry of Public Health had already acknowledged a significant increase in several provinces, and in January 2026, alerts were issued regarding outbreaks in Santiago de Cuba and Las Tunas.
In April 2026, Camagüey reported between 30 and 40 positive cases daily, while Pinar del Río was explicitly mentioned by national authorities alongside Matanzas and Camagüey as provinces with documented outbreaks.
The case of Matanzas illustrates the magnitude of the problem: as of June 3, that province reported seven new positive cases and 49 suspected cases in just one week, with the main municipality accounting for about 40% of the annual total.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Vice Minister of Public Health, Julio Guerra, denied on May 11 that Cuba is experiencing an epidemic of hepatitis A, although he acknowledged to the EFE agency that the situation is "very complex."
The authorities in Matanzas described their situation as a "plateau with a slight downward trend," but the active outbreaks in Versalles—with six new suspects in the last week—indicate that the virus continues to circulate, a pattern that Pinar del Río could replicate if action is not taken swiftly.
Filed under: