Has anyone heard of travelers coming from countries where Yellow Fever is active being required to have a Yellow Fever vaccine or be quarantined when entering Belgium or the Schengen area in general? A doctor told us some of his South American patients had faced this at the border.
Asking because a traveler in my group cannot receive the vaccine for medical reasons. We will be coming from Liberia and were planning to spend a couple days in Brussels on the way home to the US.
No that does not sound correct. Yellow Fever is only communicable between infected humans that happen to share hypodermic needles and humans get it from mosquitos. You need a vaccination for COVID to enter both Belgium and the USA. And to return to the USA a negative COVID test currently the day before your flight from Belgium.
It sounds the other way around: A person from Belgium going to a South American country where Yellow Fever is rampant currently without being vaccinated against it may have gotten stopped at the border.
“ A doctor told us some of his South American patients had faced this at the border.”
??? A doctor told you that some of his South American patients were stopped at the Belgian border because they came from a country where Yellow fever is active and weren’t vaccinated? Are you sure you understood the story correctly?
@Dutch_Traveler, yep. Hence me asking here because that sounds wild (in other words, that sounds incorrect).
I have seen this requirement over the years, but not sure which countries: "Proof of yellow fever vaccination if coming from a country where yellow fever is reported." Maybe they want to keep yellow fever from spreading to native mosquito populations?
Edit: This document lists countries with a "coming from yellow fever place" vaccination requirement, look under Australia, YES, under Belgium NO.
Regardless of the need for this to visit Belgium after leaving Liberia, I understood that yellow fever vaccination was recommended for travel to Liberia, since it is a country that WHO considers as one with a risk of YF transmission. Will you all be ignoring that recommendation? There is a medical waiver that can be provided for travellers who have a contraindication to the vaccine.
Follow up: Yes, infected people can introduce yellow fever to a local mosquito population. The slave trade introduced yellow fever to the New World.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/182442
Now I know why Walter Reed has a medical complex named after him.
While those in our party who can get vaccinated are, we've weighed the risks (including precautionary measures) and are likely to go with one of us unvaccinated.
"...likely to go with one of us unvaccinated"
Just make sure they have the waiver.
This has been a very, very common entry requirement for many years - its why I carry a yellow vaccination card which has pages for yellow fever shots specifically. I don't know about Europe but you can't enter NZ or Australia from certain south American and African countries without proof of vaccination. I've never heard of any exceptions
My understanding is that while some countries where Yellow Fever can spread have this requirement, it's not universal. Certainly not noted in Belgian entry requirements.
