Sri Lanka’s dengue caseload for 2026 has passed 95,000, with 72 deaths recorded. This article has tracked the outbreak since August 24, when the total stood at 94,037 and July had proved the worst month to date; the figures in the sections immediately below are from that release, and the latest numbers are in the updates at the end.

July alone accounted for 29,962 cases, following 21,533 in June. A further 8,701 have been reported in the first weeks of August. The first five months of the year were comparatively contained: 7,866 cases in January, 5,721 in February, 6,013 in March, 5,651 in April and 8,590 in May.

Those monthly figures account for the full national total, placing the mid-year surge — roughly 55% of all 2026 cases in June and July combined — at the centre of the outbreak.

Western Province carries more than half

The Western Province has reported 49,771 cases, or 52.93% of the national total. The Southern Province follows with 13,763 and the Central Province with 8,519.

At district level Gampaha leads with 20,034 cases, ahead of Colombo with 18,652, of which 3,787 fall within the Colombo Municipal Council area. Kandy has recorded 6,818 cases, Kalutara 6,093, Galle 6,079, Ratnapura 5,160, Matara 5,003, Kegalle 2,713, Kurunegala 2,651 and Hambantota 2,510.

The three Western Province districts as published do not fully reconcile with the province-wide figure, a gap Ada Derana did not explain.

76 high-risk areas

Health authorities have identified 76 Medical Officer of Health areas nationwide as high-risk for dengue, and have urged the public to clean and destroy mosquito breeding sites regularly and to seek prompt medical attention from a qualified doctor for any fever.

The caseload has climbed steeply since mid-July, when cases stood at 69,951 — an increase of more than 24,000 in around six weeks. The National Dengue Control Unit records Sri Lanka’s largest outbreak as 2017, when more than 186,000 cases were reported nationally.

No verified Sri Lankan newsroom other than Ada Derana had published its own report of the 94,000 milestone as of Monday afternoon.

Update: August 26 — death toll reaches 72

Dengue-related deaths this year have risen to 72 and the national caseload to 94,292, the National Dengue Control Unit said on Wednesday, August 26 — an increase of 255 cases over two days. August now accounts for 8,956 cases, up from 8,701, while July’s total is unchanged at 29,962.

The Western Province share is effectively flat at 49,901 cases, or 52.92% of the national total. The Southern Province has recorded 13,779 and the Central Province 8,551. Gampaha still leads at district level with 20,081 cases, followed by Colombo with 18,709 and Kandy with 6,846. The count of high-risk Medical Officer of Health areas remains 76.

Two problems in the published district figures are worth noting. The Western Province gap flagged above has not closed: Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara — the province’s only three districts — sum to 44,883 against a stated provincial total of 49,901, leaving 5,018 cases unaccounted for, a gap almost identical to the one in Monday’s release.

Separately, the August 26 figures list Matara at 6,099 — 1,096 more than the 5,003 published two days earlier, even though the entire national total rose by only 255 in that period. A district cannot add four times the national increase. The figure sits close to Galle’s 6,079 from Monday, and Galle is absent from Wednesday’s list, so the two districts appear to have been transposed in one of the releases. Kalutara is reported as 6,093 in both, unchanged across the two days while every other district moved.

Ada Derana remained the only verified newsroom reporting these figures.

Update: August 27 — caseload at 94,666, deaths unchanged at 72

The national caseload reached 94,666 on Thursday, August 27, an increase of 374 over the previous day’s release, while the death toll held at 72. The Daily Mirror, citing the National Dengue Control Unit’s NaDSys surveillance system, became the second verified newsroom to publish these figures after two days of Ada Derana-only reporting.

August now accounts for 9,330 cases, also up 374 — meaning the entire national increase fell within the current month, as expected. July remains the worst month at 29,962. The monthly series sums exactly to the stated national total: 7,866 in January, 5,721 in February, 6,013 in March, 5,651 in April, 8,590 in May, 21,533 in June, 29,962 in July and 9,330 in August. The provincial figures sum to the same 94,666.

The Western Province stands at 50,098 cases, again 52.92% of the total, followed by the Southern Province on 13,811, the Central Province on 8,602 and Sabaragamuwa on 7,770. Gampaha leads at district level with 20,170, then Colombo with 18,775 and Kandy with 6,892. The count of high-risk Medical Officer of Health areas remains 76, recorded for Week 33 of 2026.

The Matara–Galle transposition flagged above is now confirmed. Thursday’s release lists Matara at 6,112 and Galle at 5,185. Against Monday’s figures — Matara 5,003 and Galle 6,079 — Galle has fallen by 894 cases in three days. A cumulative annual district count cannot decrease, so the two districts were transposed in one of the releases rather than genuinely moving.

The Western Province gap has not closed either. Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara — the province’s only three districts — sum to 45,056 against a stated provincial total of 50,098, leaving 5,042 cases unaccounted for, close to the gaps of 5,018 and about 5,000 in the two previous releases.

Update: August 28 — caseload at 94,805, deaths still 72

Sri Lanka’s dengue caseload reached 94,805 on Friday, August 28, an increase of 139 over Thursday’s release. The death toll remained at 72 for a third consecutive day.

August now accounts for 9,469 cases, also up 139 — the entire national increase again fell within the current month. July remains the worst month of the year at 29,962. The monthly series continues to sum exactly to the stated national total: 7,866 in January, 5,721 in February, 6,013 in March, 5,651 in April, 8,590 in May, 21,533 in June, 29,962 in July and 9,469 in August.

The Western Province stands at 50,167 cases, once again 52.92% of the national total, followed by the Southern Province on 13,823 and the Central Province on 8,624. Gampaha leads at district level with 20,207 cases, ahead of Colombo on 18,794, Kandy on 6,913, Kalutara on 6,117 and Galle on 6,111. The count of high-risk Medical Officer of Health areas remains 76.

The Daily Mirror’s dengue tracker carried the same national, provincial and district figures when checked on Friday, making it the second verified newsroom to publish this release.

The Matara–Galle transposition has now reversed

Friday’s release lists Galle at 6,111 and omits Matara entirely — the mirror image of Wednesday and Thursday, which listed Matara in the 6,100s and dropped or demoted Galle. Placing the four releases side by side resolves which label was wrong:

Release~6,100 series~5,100 series
August 24Galle 6,079Matara 5,003
August 26”Matara” 6,099Galle absent
August 27”Matara” 6,112”Galle” 5,185
August 28Galle 6,111Matara absent

Read as a single series, the larger figure rises steadily from 6,079 to 6,111 across the four releases and is labelled Galle at both ends. The most consistent reading is that the higher count has been Galle throughout, and that Ada Derana attached Matara’s label to it on Wednesday and Thursday. That also removes the impossible 894-case fall in Galle flagged in the previous update, since a cumulative annual count cannot decrease.

One anomaly survives the correction: the series still slips by a single case between Thursday’s 6,112 and Friday’s 6,111. That is a fraction of the earlier swings and is more likely a data-entry artefact than a genuine movement, but it remains unexplained.

The Western Province gap has still not closed

Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara — the province’s only three districts — sum to 45,118 against a stated provincial total of 50,167, leaving 5,049 cases unaccounted for. That is in line with the gaps of about 5,000, 5,018 and 5,042 in the three previous releases, so the discrepancy is structural rather than a one-off error.

Update: August 29 — caseload passes 95,000, deaths unchanged

The National Dengue Control Unit put the national total at 95,035 cases on Saturday, August 29, with 72 dengue-related deaths. That is an increase of 230 cases in a day.

The death toll has now held at 72 across four consecutive releases, from August 26 to August 29, even as roughly 750 cases were added over the same period.

August has now produced 9,699 cases. At province level the Western Province stands at 50,287, the Southern at 13,843, the Central at 8,647 and Sabaragamuwa at 7,808. At district level Gampaha leads with 20,248, followed by Colombo with 18,842, Kandy with 6,931, Matara with 6,125 and Kalutara with 6,122. The count of high-risk Medical Officer of Health areas remains 76.

The Western Province gap has widened slightly

Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara sum to 45,212 against a stated provincial total of 50,287, leaving 5,075 cases unaccounted for. That continues the run of gaps of about 5,000, 5,018, 5,042 and 5,049 in the four previous releases — structural, and drifting upward rather than closing.

The Galle-Matara label has flipped again

Friday’s release labelled the roughly 6,100-case figure Galle. Saturday’s labels it Matara, at 6,125, with Galle absent from the top five. The series now reads:

Release~6,100 seriesLabel used
August 246,079Galle
August 266,099Matara
August 276,112Matara
August 286,111Galle
August 296,125Matara

The underlying count rises steadily and plausibly throughout. Only the district name attached to it moves, and it has now moved four times in five releases. On the reading set out above — that the higher figure has been Galle all along — Saturday’s list misattributes it for the third time.

Ada Derana remained the only verified newsroom publishing these figures.

Update: August 30 — the high-risk area count drops from 76 to 50

The National Dengue Control Unit put the national total at 95,174 cases on Sunday, August 30, an increase of 139 in a day. August has now produced 9,838 cases — also up by exactly 139, so the whole day’s addition fell within the current month, as it should.

Deaths remain at 72. The toll has now held across five consecutive releases, from August 26 to August 30, while roughly 890 cases were added over the same period.

At province level the Western Province stands at 50,358, the Southern at 13,854, the Central at 8,659 and Sabaragamuwa at 7,825. Gampaha remains the worst-affected district at 20,276.

The one figure that moved sharply

The count of high-risk Medical Officer of Health areas is given as 50. That figure had read 76 in every release since August 26, including one explicitly labelled Week 33 of 2026.

A fall of 26 in a single day cannot be a revision to a cumulative count, because the high-risk list is not cumulative — it is a weekly reclassification based on recent case activity in each MOH area, so areas enter and leave it. A drop of that size is consistent with a routine recalculation as the reporting week rolled over, given that the 76 was pinned to Week 33 and August 30 falls two to three weeks later.

Ada Derana attached no week label to Sunday’s figure and gave no explanation for the change, so this reading is inference rather than something the unit stated. It is the first movement in that field in five releases, and it moves in the opposite direction to the caseload, which continues to climb.

A shorter release than usual

Sunday’s release also dropped most of the district detail. Only Gampaha was given; Colombo, Kandy, Kalutara and the roughly 6,100-case Galle-or-Matara series were all absent. That means the Western Province gap tracked in the updates above — Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara summing about 5,000 short of the provincial total across five consecutive releases — cannot be computed for August 30, and the Galle-Matara label question cannot be tested either.

Ada Derana remained the only verified newsroom publishing these figures.

Update: August 31 — a second newsroom confirms the figures, and schools are ordered to act

NewsFirst independently published the same national figures on Monday, August 31 — 95,174 cases for the year, 72 deaths, and 9,838 cases in the past 30 days. That ends a run in which Ada Derana had been the sole verified newsroom carrying these releases, and it corroborates the August 30 numbers from a second source rather than advancing them.

The occasion was a National Dengue Control Unit instruction to education authorities to run dengue control programmes at every school before the new term begins. The unit warned that intermittent rainfall in the south-western parts of the country could increase mosquito breeding, and urged the public to clear their own premises.

No new case figure was issued for August 31 itself, so the caseload above still stands at Sunday’s count.

Sources