Watch Yellow Fever Vaccination Requirements!

The Great Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1820 in Savannah, GA, wiped out at least 10% of the population.  Notorious epidemics of this often-fatal disease also hit Savannah in 1873 and 1876.  But since the last Panama Canal Zone victim of yellow fever died in 1906, Americans, Canadians, Europeans, et al, rarely pay much attention to yellow fever.  So a friend just got held up entering a South American country for lack of a Yellow Fever Certificate!

This mosquito-borne disease is endemic throughout tropical & sub-tropical South America and Africa.  Illness ranges in severity from a self-limited febrile illness to severe liver disease with hemorrhaging. Yellow fever is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings, laboratory testing, and travel history, including the possibility of exposure to infected mosquitoes. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever; care is based on symptoms. Steps to prevent yellow fever virus infection include using insect repellent, wearing protective clothing, and getting vaccinated.

Vaccination requirements are changing as more people travel, and the disease spreads.  Before you travel through Africa and/or South America, check up on the latest vaccination listings from the Centers for Disease Control.  There have been several changes this year in vaccination recommendations and various countries’ vaccination requirements.  Even if the first country you go to does not require vaccination, your next stop might!

AFRICA:  Yellow fever is endemic in: Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Republic of the), Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda.  Going to any of these?  Might as well get YF vaccination, or you probably are not going anywhere else.  Many countries without mandatory YF vaccinations DO require them if you have been in one of these recently.

SOUTH AMERICA:  Yellow fever is endemic in: Argentina (one northern province, not Buenos Aires), Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama (Darien Province near Columbian border), Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.  For several of these countries, e.g. Panama, Argentina, it is only found in more remote rainforest areas.

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After immunization, an International Certificate of Vaccination (Yellow Fever Certificate) is issued, valid 10 days after vaccination and good for 10 years. Carry your Certificate with you! Travelers who have a medical reason not to receive the yellow fever vaccine should obtain a medical waiver. Most – not all! – countries will accept a medical waiver for persons with a medical reason not to receive the vaccine.  Obviously, if you cannot be vaccinated, you want to avoid travel to a lot of these YF-endemic countries.  Roadwarrioresses are not stupid!

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann