Travel health and safety for Cameroon 🇨🇲

Hepatitis A virus can cause liver disease, and in rare cases, liver failure and death.

• Can be spread by fecal-oral transmission, consuming contaminated food or water, or close, personal contact with an infected person.
• Symptoms may range from mild to severe, including fatigue, jaundice, abdominal discomfort, vomiting, and joint pain.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that targets the liver and may cause chronic infections. 

• Its primary mode of transmission is through direct blood-to-blood contact with an infected person. It can also be transmitted through unprotected sex or sharing needles.
• Symptoms may range from mild to severe, including fatigue, jaundice, and abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting and joint pain.

Yellow Fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes in certain regions of Africa and South America.

• Mild cases: Fever, headache, muscle and joint aches, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting
• Severe cases: High fever, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), bleeding, organ failure, and, in some cases, death.
• There is a risk of yellow fever in Cameroon.
• Proof of yellow fever vaccination is required for travelers from all countries.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease. Anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk of being infected with it when travelling internationally.

• Spreads through respiratory droplets and direct contact with infected individuals.
• Symptoms initially resemble a common cold, followed by a characteristic rash fever, cough, runny nose, small, white spots inside the mouth and throat red eyes, sleepiness, and irritability.

Polio is a highly infectious vaccine-preventable disease.

• Polio can infect the central nervous system and damage nerve cells that activate muscles.
• Spread from person to person and through contaminated food and water.
• Polio virus can cause paralysis and death in individuals of any age who are not immune.

Rabies is a viral infection transmitted through animal bites.  

• Symptoms may initially include fever, headache, and discomfort at the bite site, progressing to more severe neurological symptoms. Rabies is fatal if it is not treated before symptoms develop.
• Rabies treatment may be limited or may not be available, therefore you may need to return to Canada for treatment.

Cholera is a serious intestinal infection caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

• Found in infected water or food contaminated with the bacteria.
• Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, leg cramps, watery diarrhea.
• Strongly consider getting vaccinated against cholera.

Typhoid is a bacterial infection typically transmitted through contaminated food and water.  

• Consider getting vaccinated against typhoid.
• Symptoms of typhoid fever include a high fever, headache, weakness, fatigue, stomach pain, constipation or diarrhea, loss of appetite, and a rose-colored rash on the chest and abdomen. 

• It is spread through respiratory secretions and require close contact for transmission
• Traveler’s with increased risk include those with prolonged, close contact with local population, those attending mass gatherings, long stay travelers.
• Meningitis risk is mainly during the dry season.
• Symptoms take an average of four days to appear. In some cases, symptoms may appear between two and ten days after infection.
• They usually include high fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting and drowsiness. Other symptoms may include sensitivity to light (photophobia), confusion and a purplish skin rash.
• Complications can include deafness, brain damage, seizures and may lead to death.