Is anything worse than usual in Anuradhapura right now?

Yes. Dengue is far above usual: 6.0× its usual for these weeks. Two more are above usual: chickenpox and leishmaniasis.

Far above usual · 6.0×

64 dengue cases a week, against a usual 11.

050100150usual range2026JanAprJulOctWeek 6 of 2026: 19, as printedWeek 9 of 2026: 27, as printedWeek 14 of 2026: 2, as printedWeek 15 of 2026: 17, as printedWeek 17 of 2026: 15, as printedWeek 24 of 2026: 3, as printedWeek 28 of 2026: 146, as printed

Weeks 6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24 and 28: the Ministry of Health's two reports disagree by more than half (its Epidemiology Unit's figures, drawn here, against its National Dengue Control Unit's weekly update). Shown as printed.

Read from these four weekly reports by Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka:

  • 20–26 Jul 2026 (Vol 53 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–2 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 34)
The 8 reports behind "usual"
  • 20–26 Jul 2024 (Vol 51 No 31)
  • 27 Jul–2 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 34)
  • 19–25 Jul 2025 (Vol 52 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–1 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 32)
  • 2–8 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 33)
  • 9–15 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 34)

The publisher's own list of its weekly reports

⅛×usual8×

How this is worked out. The last four weeks against the same four weeks of the two years before, for this district alone. Illnesses with fewer than 5 cases a week here are left out: too few to compare.

Dengue in Anuradhapura, newest week

11 cases in the week to 13 September, 2.8 times the same week last year.

30cases the week before
993so far this year, against 403 by now last year

Source: National Dengue Control Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, Weekly Dengue Update, week 37 of 2026. It counts suspected cases and comes out weeks sooner than the weekly report used elsewhere on this page, so its figures are newer and usually a little higher.

What makes the most people ill here?

Dengue and leishmaniasis: 59 of every 100 reports here this year.

  • Dengue38 in 100
  • Leishmaniasis21 in 100
  • Chickenpox16 in 100
  • Leptospirosis7 in 100
  • Tuberculosis7 in 100
  • 8 others11 in 100

2,665 reports from Anuradhapura so far in 2026.

Which illnesses are coming into season here?

Leishmaniasis usually peaks here in the next three months.

Usual peak, from 2014 to 2025Next ten weeks

How does Anuradhapura compare with the rest of Sri Lanka?

Anuradhapura is 9th of the 21 districts with enough dengue to compare, each against its own usual.

usual⅛×8×32×country 4.7×Anuradhapura: 6.0×Badulla: 7.6×Batticaloa: 3.0×Colombo: 4.0×Galle: 5.3×Gampaha: 6.3×Hambantota: 6.7×Jaffna: 2.5×Kalmunai: 6.5×Kalutara: 7.8×Kandy: 3.5×Kegalle: 5.3×Kurunegala: 3.8×Matale: 2.8×Matara: 7.2×Monaragala: 3.8×Nuwara Eliya: 6.3×Polonnaruwa: 5.0×Puttalam: 7.0×Ratnapura: 2.6×Trincomalee: 2.1×Anuradhapura

Across Sri Lanka as a whole, dengue is at 4.7× its usual; here it is 6.0×.

Why each district against itself. A large district always has more cases than a small one. Each dot is a district against its own usual, so size drops out.

Where can people get care in Anuradhapura?

62 government hospitals and clinics, from 22 primary care units to 1 national and teaching hospitals.

  • 22Primary care unitsthe first stop for most illnesses
  • 33Divisional hospitalssmall local hospitals
  • 6District and base hospitalslarger hospitals with specialists
  • 1National and teaching hospitalsthe largest, for serious and specialist care

Where volunteers on OpenStreetMap have mapped hospitals and clinics. Their map shows where they have been, not everything that exists.

HospitalClinic or doctor

Hospitals named on the map include:

  • Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital
  • Padaviya Base Hospital
  • Kekirawa District Hospital
  • Mihintale district Hospital
  • Divisional Hospital Kapugollewa
  • Habarana Divisional Hospital

Source: Directorate of Planning, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Sri Lanka, List of Hospitals and Hospital Bed Data, 2026; map: OpenStreetMap contributors, via the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, licence ODbL 1.0.

How far is care from here?

Most people (68%) live more than an hour's walk from a hospital or clinic.

Walking time to the nearest hospital or clinic, for everyone living in Anuradhapura. Half of people are within 90 minutes.

  • Within an hour's walk32%
  • One to two hours36%
  • More than two hours32%

And to a larger hospital?

Not shown yet. The Ministry of Health's list of its hospitals counts 7 larger hospitals in Anuradhapura, and Dooram has not yet placed 2 of them on the map. Any of them could be nearer to people here than the nearest one placed, so a distance now could be too long.

Sources: walking times, Weiss and others, Nature Medicine 2020 (Malaria Atlas Project), a model at walking pace from facilities mapped in 2019; where people live, WorldPop 2020; larger hospitals, the Ministry of Health's list of its hospitals (2026).

Can we trust this week's numbers for Anuradhapura?

Yes, for this week. Anuradhapura sent figures in 52 of the last 52 weekly reports.

Weekly reports with figures from Anuradhapura, most recent last

A reported case means someone reached a clinic and a form was filed, so these count reports, not everyone who was ill.

Sources. Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, weekly report. District maps: Survey Department of Sri Lanka, published as a Common Operational Dataset by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.