Kenya Health & Vaccinations

Malaria & Yellow Fever Requirements

An Overview

There are very good hospitals in Nairobi, but healthcare facilities in the rest of Kenya are remote and not widely accessible. While malaria is not uncommon, and other diseases have found a home in Kenya, the relative risk that you, the traveller, will contract any of them is low.

Nevertheless, please take common sense precautions as you would when travelling elsewhere. Avoid drinking tap water that has not been boiled or disinfected, eating produce that has not been peeled or cooked, and eating food from street vendors. Drink lots of water to avoid heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and make sure to always use insect repellent to avoid contracting insect-borne diseases.

Malaria Recommendations for Kenya

Most of Kenya lies in a moderate-risk zone for malaria, with the exceptions of the city of Nairobi and the highlands. Risk of transmission is year-round. Therefore, it is recommended you consult your doctor to see whether you should take malaria prophylaxis before entering Kenya. The course should start 24 hours before entering Kenya and should be taken for 6 weeks after leaving the country.

Other prevention methods such as using mosquito repellent and sleeping under a mosquito net are also recommended.

As always, when travelling to any destination, please be sure you are up to date with all routine vaccinations. Commonly recommended vaccinations for travel to Africa include the following: Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Yellow Fever, Rabies, and Meningitis. Visit your doctor several weeks before your trip to ensure that you have all the vaccines and medications you need.

Yellow Fever Vaccination Requirements for Kenya

Kenya requires a valid yellow fever certificate from all foreign visitors and citizens over 1 year of age travelling from an infected area or having been in transit through infected areas (>12 hours). This rule applies to travellers from the following countries: Angola, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Colombia, Congo (Republic of), Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, French Guyana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, and Venezuela.

Eritrea, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Tanzania and Zambia are not contained on the official World Health Organization list of countries with risk of YFV transmission. Therefore, proof of yellow fever vaccination should not be required if traveling from any of these countries to another country with a vaccination entry requirement (unless that country requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from all arriving travelers).

However, Kenya itself is a yellow fever-endemic country. While yellow fever is not known to occur in much of the eastern portion of the country and the cities of Mombasa and Nairobi, it has been known to occur in the rest of the country. If your itinerary will take you out of these eastern, yellow fever-free zones, it is absolutely recommended that you be vaccinated.

Yellow Fever Vaccination Requirements for U.S. Citizens

Moreover, because Kenya is considered an infected area, most countries will require proof of vaccination against yellow fever upon entry for all travellers who have recently been in Kenya.

If you are travelling directly from Kenya to the U.S., it is recommended you take vaccination. Please see the CDC link for more information. If you are travelling from Kenya directly to another country, for example, South Africa, it is required that you take the yellow fever vaccination. The vaccination is not required for airport transits of less than 12 hours.

More details at:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/kenya

Yellow Fever Vaccination Requirements for Indian Citizens

All visitors travelling from India to Kenya are required to be vaccinated against yellow fever with an international certificate proving so. While there is no health check on departure from India, you will be checked upon your return. Thus, it is mandatory to be in possession of a valid international vaccination certificate of yellow fever before your departure. This certificate must be issued from an approved vaccination center.

The yellow fever vaccination needs to be given at least ten days before arriving in a yellow-fever-endemic area and must be administered at an approved yellow fever vaccination center.

Oral Polio Vaccination Requirements for Indian Citizens

All visitors travelling from India to Kenya are required to undergo a dose of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). This requirement is also necessary for travellers coming from polio-endemic (Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan) and countries with poliovirus in circulation following importation (Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Syria) to India.

Indian residents travelling from India to the seven polio infected countries are required to receive a dose of OPV at least 4 weeks before travel, regardless of age and vaccination status.

More details at:

Notice about visa and vaccination services

Please know that Chalo Africa does not provide any visa or vaccination services. We’d request you not to contact us if you have any questions regarding your visa or vaccinations.