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Tropical Travel: Beware of Malaria

	Travelers to the tropics or subtropics may need to take precautions against malaria.

Remember that if you travel to the tropics or subtropics, you may be in an area where malaria is a problem. If so, you need to know how to protect yourself and your family from this potentially deadly disease.

Protect Yourself from Malaria

Some simple precautions will help protect your health while traveling. CDC’s Travelers’ Health website provides detailed information on malaria risk by country and prevention information.

Travelers to malaria-risk areas should:

• Visit your health care provider 4–6 weeks before travel for any necessary vaccinations, as well as a prescription for an antimalarial drug, if needed. (There are no vaccines against malaria.)
• Take your antimalarial drug exactly on schedule without missing doses.
• Apply insect repellent to prevent mosquito and other insect bites. Your insect repellent should contain DEET as its active ingredient. To prevent malaria, apply insect repellent if out of doors between dusk and dawn when the mosquito that transmits malaria is biting.
• Wear long pants and long-sleeved clothing.
• Sleep under a mosquito bed net (preferably one that has been treated with insecticide) if you are not living in screened or air-conditioned housing.

Read more information about malaria and travel.

Countries With Malaria Risk

Find out whether your travel destination has a malaria risk and what specific precautions you can take to avoid malaria.

Visiting Family and Friends

Going “home” to visit friends and relatives? Even if you were born in a malaria-risk country, you may still get malaria if you return as a visitor because most likely you are no longer immune. Your children are also susceptible as they did not grow up with malaria exposure. Find out how you can protect yourself and your family.

Cautionary Tales About Travelers’ Experiences with Malaria

A traveler to Haiti on a humanitarian mission contracts severe malaria…more

Mariama Jones was 19 weeks pregnant when a family crisis required that she travel to her native Sierra Leone…more

On January 23, 2006, the Adisa family returned to the United States from a visit to their roots in Nigeria; little did they know...more