Influenza Hit Highest Level in Five Years as USVI Expanded Lead, Legionella and Wastewater Surveillance

The V.I. Department of Health’s Epidemiology Division says 2025 brought the territory’s highest influenza case count in the past five years, a hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak that spread across schools and day cares, continued dengue and COVID-19 surveillance, expanded lead and legionella investigations, and a major upgrade to the territory’s disease-tracking system. The annual report also details new reporting requirements for several health conditions, the launch of an online food and water illness complaint portal, and growing use of wastewater monitoring to track both respiratory disease and substance-use trends. In its summary of nationally notifiable diseases handled by the Epidemiology Division in 2025, the report lists 378 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases, 140 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 47 confirmed dengue cases, 9 confirmed and 3 probable cases of elevated lead in blood, 4 confirmed and 1 probable case of legionellosis, 3 confirmed cases each of campylobacteriosi...