What to know
- Yellow fever regularly occurs (is endemic) in several countries in South America.
- Vaccination is recommended for most travelers aged 9 months and older traveling to areas at risk for yellow fever.
Areas with Risk of Yellow Fever in South America
1Current as of November 2022. This map is an updated version of the 2010 map created by the Informal WHO Working Group on the Geographic Risk of Yellow Fever.
2In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its yellow fever vaccine recommendations for travelers going to Brazil because of a large outbreak in multiple states in that country. For more information and updated recommendations, refer to the CDC Travelers' Health website.
3Yellow fever vaccination is generally not recommended for travel to areas where the potential for yellow fever virus exposure is low. Vaccination might be considered, however, for a small subset of travelers going to these areas who are at increased risk for exposure to yellow fever virus due to prolonged travel, heavy exposure to mosquitoes, or inability to avoid mosquito bites. Factors to consider when deciding whether to vaccinate a traveler include destination-specific and travel-associated risks for yellow fever virus infection; individual, underlying risk factors for having a serious yellow fever vaccine-associated adverse event; and country entry requirements.
See the traveler's health website for any recent updates on risk areas or traveler health notices regarding outbreaks of yellow fever in the Americas.