A Cuban identified as Batista Tania posted on Facebook a testimony that summarizes the anguish of thousands of patients on the island: she has been bedridden for exactly three weeks due to the virus that strikes Cuba, without medication to ease her pain and without seeing the end of her suffering.
"Today marks exactly three weeks since that horrible and ruthless monster invaded my body, the one that is wreaking havoc on Cuba. A nameless and faceless virus," wrote the woman, whose account is circulating on social media amid the arboviral disease crisis that the country has been experiencing since July 2025, with simultaneous cases of chikungunya, dengue, and Oropouche.
Batista describes a devastating clinical picture: entire nights without sleep, a pain she compares to "fire burning the bones from within," and relentless cycles of two regular days followed by three or four days during which the discomfort leaves her unable to move.
"It always surprises you with a new symptom or one that repeats, but with the agonizing pain that leaves you unable to move. This is no longer living; this is slowly dying," he/she wrote.
What exacerbates their situation—and that of countless Cubans in the same condition—is the lack of medicine.
There is no specific antiviral treatment for chikungunya or dengue; management relies on analgesics and anti-inflammatories, which are precisely the medications that are in short supply on the island.
At the beginning of this August, Diaz-Canel himself acknowledged that only 30% of the essential medication supply is available on the island. A survey conducted in May revealed that merely 4.8% of Cubans could obtain medications without difficulty.
"Horrible agony not to have medicine to quell the hunger of that unknown creature dwelling within us," lamented Batista Tania, who admits that when she manages to take an anti-inflammatory, she feels relief, but only for one day.
The chikungunya outbreak reappeared in Cuba in July 2025 after nine years of absence. According to the Pan American Health Organization, during that year alone, there were 81,909 suspected cases and 65 deaths from dengue and chikungunya combined, with more than half of the deceased being minors.
In January 2026, 1,457 additional cases and two new deaths were reported, and reports from AP in August 2026 raised the total number of fatalities to 55: 37 attributed to chikungunya and 18 to dengue.
The crisis is spreading throughout the territory. In June, the Ministry of Public Health warned about a possible dengue epidemic while Matanzas confirmed the first cases of the season.
In July, Villa Clara reported simultaneous circulation of serotypes DENV-2 and DENV-4, and this month Guantánamo acknowledged an increase in Aedes aegypti with the presence of three different serotypes of the virus.
The impact transcends the island's borders: Spain has detected 20 cases of chikungunya originating from Cuba in recent weeks, and Canada has issued precautionary recommendations for travelers.
The journalist Yoani Sánchez also reported at the beginning of August having experienced a feverish episode consistent with chikungunya in Havana, with high fever, joint pain, and chills.
In her post, Batista Tania does not ask for compassion for herself; she asks that no one look away from those who are suffering. “Don’t turn away when you see someone complaining; believe me, what is needed most is support. This leaves you feeling down and with your self-esteem in the gutter,” she wrote.
And he closed with a prayer: "Heal my homeland, I ask you in the name of those who bear no blame."
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