EV 141/EC 210 – Africa: Wildlife, Ecotourism and Sustainable Development
June 14 – July 23, 1999
Professors Walt Hecox and Bruce Byers
Frequently Asked Questions
February 26, 1999
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EV 141/EC 210 – Africa: Wildlife, Ecotourism and Sustainable Development June 14 – July 23, 1999 Professors Walt Hecox and Bruce Byers Frequently Asked Questions
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Many of you are wondering about the various travel shots necessary for this course. More so than most questions, IT DEPENDS! For instance, some of you will be up-to-date on your childhood vaccinations, others may not and will need to complete those series. Also some of you may be travelling to other parts of Africa after the course, thus possibly needing some additional inoculations. SO, I am providing here a link to the U.S. Government’s Centers for Disease Control Web Site, which is mostly THE authoritative source of such information.
If you will go to that page and through the Traveler’s Health sub-page click on the geographical map, it will take you to an extensive discussion of “Health Information for Travelers to Southern Africa.” (http://www.cdc.gov/travel/safrica.htm ) This is the first place you should visit in thinking about any travel shots you may need. But you also must be aware of those vaccinations you had as a child and whether or not they are current (your parents are the best source of info for this). Finally, you need to be very clear in your own mind about any additional travel you plan on doing in Africa after the course and before you return to the US. Research these countries carefully to compile a comprehensive list of shots needed. (For instance, if you intend to go to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, you apparently will need a Yellow Fever shot, whereas if you only go to Zimbabwe and return to the US you apparently do not, but even this should be confirmed). When you arrange for your shots, go over the exact details of your travel with the nurse and make sure you end up with all the required shots. Since you may need to make a return visit for second shots, boosters, etc., leave plenty of time for all of this.
To be safe and leave enough time to complete all of the shots required, START AT LEAST SIX WEEKS before the course starts. Also, please do not leave any shots to the last minute, since in Colorado Springs at least, the El Paso County Health Department’s Travel Clinic is slow, often takes several weeks notice to gain access for shots. YOU SHOULD PLAN ON HAVING ALL OF YOUR SHOTS COMPLETED (UNLESS ANY ARE TIME-SENSITIVE AND MUST BE TAKEN RIGHT BEFORE DEPARTURE) BEFORE JUNE 14,1999.
MALARIA is a must issue to discuss with your travel shots clinic. The CDC web site has extensive material on this. Basically, you will need to start taking malaria suppressants 2 weeks before your travel to Zimbabwe and continue the same regime for 4-6 weeks after you leave Africa. Obtain a prescription for enough pills to do this from your doctor so that you have the entire supply of pills to take with you. While many malaria suppressants are available in Harare, you will have little time to find them and besides, you would be 2 weeks late in initiating the regime if you wait until you arrive to find the necessary pills.
Please understand that we cannot “recommend”
or specify the exact shots you will need. It is your responsibility
to determine this and have them completed before the start of the course.
These shots must be recorded in a World Health Organization International
Certificates of Vaccination (yellow) that can be obtained where you receive
your shots. This shot record must then always be kept with
your passport.