The downfall of having the Amazon, the Pantanal, the Iguazu Falls, and many other distinct parks and preserved areas is that such elaborate wildlife comes with its own set of diseases. Listed below are the immunizations recommended for visiting Brazil.

Most travelers only spend a few, if any, days in areas that have a high risk. For those travelers, little precautions and probably no immunizations need to be taken. Wearing clothing that covers your body and using bug spray should decrease the chance of catching one of these diseases.

The information on this page is simply a collection of general precautions. Please consult your doctor for medical advice.

A yellow-fever vaccination is recommended to all passengers who are returning from endemic areas. Officially, there are no "infected" areas of yellow fever within Brazil. But these could be said to include: the rural areas of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Para, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins, and some areas of Minas Gerais, Parana and Sao Paulo.

Applicants who have visited any of the countries listed below within the previous 90 days prior to entry in Brazil, are required to present a valid International Yellow Fever vaccination certificate: Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Venezuela, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guine, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan.

Some risk of malaria is present in all nine "Legal Amazonia" states: Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao (western part), Mato Grosso (northern part), Para (except Belem City), Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins. Check with a knowledgeable source about the risk in the particular area you are visiting.

Transmission is higher in jungle areas of lumbering, agricultural and agricultural development that are less then 5 years old where multi-resistant P.falciparum strains are common. Major cities including Pôrto Velho, Boa Vista, Macapa, Manaus, Santarem and Maraba have a lower transmission rate.

Protection treatments vary according to the actual risk in contracting malaria, the dominant species of the malaria parasite in an area, and the possible risk of serious side effects from the prophylactic drugs.

The WHO's - World Health Organization's - recommended malaria prophylaxis: mefloquine.

A hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for travelers that plan to drink non-bottled water.

Travel Facts

   Visa Information
   Immunizations