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yellow fever vaccine?
We are getting conflicting reports as to whether or not we need them. We're flying from Washington DC to Jo'burg with a one hour refueling stop in Senegal. Has anyone done this same trip in the past few weeks? and if so, did you need the yellow fever vaccination? thanks in advance for your reply
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Hi Marthaskol,
No. You do not need yellow fever vaccination if arriving from the US (DCA), even when SAAirways makes the stop in Dakar. You would only need it if you were arriving to South Africa from a yellow fever inflicted country, such as one of Eastern African countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda or Uganda). You will be fine, my DCA neighbor!! Enjoy your planning!! |
well actually we have family there who work for the CDC and in a memo issued by the US embassy in Pretoria date Dec 9, 2010 says...
"According to the Health Unit, South African airport authorities are now STRICTLY ENFORCING the requirement that all travelers arriving from, or transiting through, countries where a risk of yellow fever infection exists have proof of current yellow fever vaccination in their Yellow Card. What's more, the vaccination must have been administered at least 10 days prior to arrival. Two things to make special note of: 1. Passengers who board a South Africa-bound flight in the States or in Europe that stops in a yellow fever country on the way to South Africa (i.e. the South African Airways flight from DC to Johannesburg that stops for an hour in Dakar) still must have proof of vaccination. 2. Infants less than age 1 are exempt." and our family says they know of 2 people who were detained and sent back to DC, but they don't know if they had any stamps in their passports that might have raised the YF flag however the SA Embassy in DC says it is not required. So there's the confusion and I'd hate to ruin our 12 day vacation with 10 in quarantined, but aside from being costly the YF vaccine is got some serious possible side effects. So I'd love to hear from someone who flew that same route recently. thanks again |
Well, you sound as if you're stuck with conflicting, and perhaps incomplete, information. You could write to the SA Embassy to get their advice in writing (no YF shot required in your case), for what that would be worth if an Immigrations person stopped you. But, personally, I find it hard to believe that they would be turning back a plane-load of tourists coming from the US who merely touched ground in Senegal (you can't leave the plane). I also think that if this has been occurring since December or before we would have seen mention of it in this forum, which, with its travel-savvy posters, is often a lightening rod for information about significant changes in African travel.
Assuming you're flying with SAA, you could try to change things so you fly from NY to JNB. Flight 204 is non-stop, so you've obviated the stopped-in-the-YF-belt argument. Ultimately, if you want to ease all fears about entry, you just bite the bullet and get the shot. Good luck, Steve |
For healthy people, the only side-effect may be a sore arm (not so with me though). Otherwise, if allergic to eggs - don't have; if over age 60 - not recommended by the CDC (also children under a certain age). In these cases a "waiver" written on your physician's letterhead for either of these reasons should suffice.
Bear in mind though, while this is an expensive inoculation it's good for 10/years, so comes to maybe $15-20/years over the term of the inoc. I recall years back, traveling from Kenya/Tanzania (we had the YF inoc) to the Seychelles, all arrivees, even those from the UK who had only stopped in Nairobi (never deplanning), had to present YF card as proof of having had the jab. |
Take a look at post #3 at this site:
http://www.travellerspoint.com/forum.cfm?thread=72436 It probably sums it up as well as possible. |
finally found the answer on the South Africa Embassy (in DC)website...
HEALTH REQUIREMENTS Yellow fever immunization is a requirement ONLY if the journey to the Republic starts or entails passing through the yellow fever belt of Africa or South America by any means other than by scheduled air service. The validity of yellow fever certifications extends for a period often (10) years beginning ten (10) days after the date of immunization, or in the case of re-immunization within such period often (10) years from the date of that re-immunization. So we don't need it. Thanks everyone for your help though. |
That's great! Congrats on finding that. Can you cite the link here for us? Their statement qualifies what "passing through the yellow fever belt" constitutes, at least for South Africa. I think the link will be useful for others who have the same question you posed. Steve
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If you are travelling from a Yellow Fever country into another country you will need the yellow fever shot.
Our last trip of the season was in September. We travelled from the United States to Zimbabwe and South Africa. No yellow fever vaccination was required. There is a list of countries on the CDC site that requires yellow fever shots. They will either turn you around or more commonly provide you the vaccination at customs if needed. The full info is at this link. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list.aspx |
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