Please seek and obtain professional medical advice from your GP or nearest Travel clinic regarding vaccination requirements for the countries and/or areas you are visiting. The best choice of vaccines for your trip depends on a number of factors, including your precise travel plans. Vaccines commonly recommended for travelers to Africa include those against:

• Tetanus

• Hepatitis B

• Yellow fever*

• Diphtheria

• Rabies

• Typhoid

• Meningitis

• Hepatitis A

• Polio

*Immunization certificate required for entry into, or travel between some African countries.

Several of these vaccines can require more than one dose, or take time to become effective. Vaccine shortages also occur from time to time – particularly with yellow fever. So it is always best to seek advice on immunisation well in advance of your date of travel. Your Immunisation card, with all vaccinations recorded, should be carried together with your passport.

Malaria

Parts of Kenya, and in particular the coastal regions, are considered malarial areas. Before travel you should consult your GP and/or nearest travel clinic regarding Malaria and which prophylactics you should take. There are a number of medications you can take, and travelers should heed medical advice as to the possible advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Prevention of Malaria should also involve preventing bites from infected female Anopheles mosquitoes which can be active from dusk to dawn. Applying insect repellent and covering up during these hours reduces the risk.

Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever is a viral disease that occurs throughout the tropics and subtropics on the continents of South America, Africa and Asia. Spread through the bite of an infected female (Aedes aegypti) mosquito. The majority of cases tend to result in a mild infection lasting a few days, but in approximately 15% of cases – accompanying symptoms can have fatal tendencies.

Countries or areas where “a risk of Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) transmission is present,” as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), are countries or areas where “yellow fever has been reported currently or in the past, plus vectors and animal reservoirs currently exist”. Kenya is considered to be not ‘holoendemic’ (only a portion of the country has risk of yellow fever transmission). The WHO reports the last two cases of YFV in Kenya in 2016 (https://www.who.int/csr/don/6-april-2016-yellow-fever-kenya/en/) both of which were cases where Kenyans living and working in Angola contracted the virus and travelled home to Kenya.

Both Rwanda and Tanzania are classified as “low potential for exposure to YFV”. Favorable ecological conditions for YFV do exist in these countries; this, together with their proximity to YFV endemic countries has meant that to comply with international health regulations - travelers arriving from YFV endemic countries must have the Yellow Fever vaccination. This does not apply to travelers transiting through an endemic country as long as they do not leave the airport and their home country is not an endemic country.

Travelers from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America do not need Yellow Fever vaccinations to enter Kenya. For travelers coming from other African countries or South America, please check with your Bush & Beyond travel consultant whether a Yellow Fever vaccination is required. However, if travelers have a multi country safari itinerary they will require a Yellow Fever vaccination and certificate to enter Tanzania, Rwanda (and other African countries) if Kenya was their first destination.