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Are You Coming To Brazil For Carnival? Watch Out For The Yellow Fever!

Warden Message on Yellow Fever

U.S. Consulate
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
January 10, 2008

The U.S. Embassy in Brasilia is issuing this Warden Message to alert U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Brazil to recent fatal cases of possible Yellow Fever in Goias and Brazil’s Federal District (including Brasilia). While it will be weeks to months before test results can confirm if these deaths were actually caused by Yellow Fever, the Government of Brazil has begun a Yellow Fever vaccine campaign in the affected regions.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind the U.S. citizen community of the Embassy’s standing advice regarding Yellow Fever vaccinations for U.S. Citizens traveling to Brazil:

Yellow Fever vaccine is recommended for persons over 9 months of age for travel to all rural areas of all states, including Iguassu Falls tourist resorts, and for travel to Brasilia and Belo Horizonte. Cities in jungle areas are considered rural, not urban, in nature.

Yellow Fever is not a risk for travel to major coastal cities from Fortaleza to the Uruguay border, including the major tourist/business destinations of Sao Paulo, Salvador, Rio, Recife, and Fortaleza.

Further information on Yellow Fever treatment and prevention can be found at the Centers for Disease Control’s website at: http://www.cdc.gov/. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) web site at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

In case of an emergency, please contact the Consular Section of the Consulate in Rio de Janeiro at Avenida Presidente Wilson 147, Centro, Rio de Janeiro, telephone 21-2823-2000, after-hours telephone 21-3823-2029.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov/ where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, Travel Warnings and Public Announcements can be found. American citizens traveling or residing overseas are encouraged to register with the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate on the State Department’s travel registration website at https://travelregistration.state.gov.

Sincerely,

William Weissman
Chief, Consular Section