I am travelling to the US immediately after spending a week in Rio de Jan. I remember reading somewhere that US immigrations/customs will refuse entry to any person who has been in a "Yellow fever country" such as brazil who does not have a yellow fever certificate. The US embassy in London cannot/will not (bizarrely) say if this is true or not. Does anybody know whether or not this is true?
Thanks.

people in my company routinely travel to Mercosul and I have not heard of this certificate. I myself have not traveled there yet so I cannot say for sure, although I am planning a trip to Argentina soon.

your email makes me laugh, I used to date a Marc who would get quite indignant if anyone spelled his name Mark!

There is def. such a certificate - i am just wondering whether to get the jab as it is approximatley £50 i think.

I to dislike it when people spell my name wrong hence the email addy!!! Glad you appreciate it.

Have you checked www.cdc.gov?

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/yellowfever.htm

Yellow fever vaccination is not required it is only recommended if visiting rural areas.

x,

Yes indeed i am asking people on a BULLETIN board. Thanks for your obnoxious comment. Hardly worth your while was it?

Marc, yes I am curious as to why you are asking such a crucial piece of travel information on a board that gives a lot of erroneous information. I did reply to contact the State Department so I was not flaming you.

Marc
The "certificate" you are referring to is I think the old "HealthCard" or comething like that issued by the WHO(WorldHealthOrganization).MY TA lived overseas years ago and he tells me stories about how he and his fellow travellers would have to wait while the immigration authotities checked everyone's YellowCard,as it was yellow paper in the form of a passport.I think those were done away with probaly some 30 years ago but of course I cant be sure.Just a thought.

The yellow fever shot is good for 10 years, mine has expired - noticed when I pulled out yellow card recently to see when I last had smallpox shot (used to be required every 3 yrs to keep current).

Speaking as a doctor working in travel medicine, the situation from the UK perspective is that certain countries require a certificate from a licenced yellow fever vaccination centre stating that you have been immunised, ONLY if you are entering from a region where yellow fever is endemic. If you are in the UK, I am sure if you ring a BA Travel Health Clinic they can confirm it for you. Brazil would, I think, be regarded as such an area, so you would need to be vaccinated. You can only get the vaccine at certain, licenced centres such as above, and they will automatically give you the certificate when they vaccinate you. Sorry I can't be definitive as I'm at home rather than work without access to charts etc. For the future, an Embassy isn't the most appropriate point of contact for travel health advice - you should enquire about vaccinations etc from your doctor/nurse/travel clinic at least 6 weeks before leaving. There endeth the lesson.

I spent a couple weeks in Rio and was told that as a visitor to urban Rio I really didn't have to be vaccinated for anything, but got a hepatitis jab just for safety's sake. No 'yellow fever card' was ever mentioned nor required before leaving or upon return.

I would worry more about the mosquito-borne stuff, wear repellant with DEET. There is Dengue, even in urban Rio, and it can throw you in bed for a few months if you are so unlucky as to aquire it.

To Russ: You advise the original poster to worry more about the "mosquito-borne stuff" rather than yellow fever?????

Yellow fever IS a mosquito-borne viral disease!!!

Yes, I know, I know...

I was trying to imply that in the relatively non-tropical and urbanized areas of Southern Brazil, Yellow Fever is not nearly as a concern as Dengue.