Travel diseases

When preparing for your travels, there are many things to consider, however your health should always be high on the list of priorities. Depending on your destination and the activities you plan to engage in, travelling can increase your risk of developing a variety of health problems. Ranging from mild and inconvenient to severe and life-threatening, these health risks include, among others, the following diseases:

• Ticks & Biting insects
• Food & Water
• Animals & Other Infections
• Person to Person

Ticks & Biting insects

Chikungunya

This nasty little virus infects its victims through mosquito bites. It causes fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain, headaches, and skin rashes.

Dengue Fever

This unpleasant virus is spread through mosquito bites; it’s usually mild but it can be fatal. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, pain behind th ...

Japanese Encephalitis

A deadly virus which infects travellers across Asia and in Australia through mosquito bites. It can cause long term mental and physical disab ...

Lyme Disease

This sneaky microbe can infect you if you are bitten by a tick, causing a red, ‘bullseye’-shaped rash and flu-like symptoms which can sometimes develo ...

Malaria

A deadly disease which can infect travellers through mosquito bite. It causes fever, headache and chills. People travelling to Africa, Asia, the Middle Eas ...

Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE)

Nasty little bug which attacks travellers in Europe and Asia through tick bites. It causes flu-like symptoms, which might become more ...

Yellow Fever

A dangerous virus which infects travellers in Africa, South America, Central America and the Caribbean through mosquito bites. Can cause muscle pain,  ...

Zika

Vicious virus which infects travellers in Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific through mosquito bites. Symptoms are mild, but pregnan ...

Food & Water

Cholera

Horrible bug guilty of causing diarrhea, vomiting and severe dehydration in people travelling to South and Middle America, Africa, and Asia. Beware of infe ...

Typhoid

Potentially fatal bacteria causing persistent high fever, abdominal discomfort, malaise, and headache. Travellers in areas without good sanitation or clean ...

Hepatitis A

An unpleasant bug which can cause nausea, abdominal pain and even liver failure. Travellers across most of the world should beware of contaminated food ...

Animals & Other Infections

Rabies

Lethal virus which infects travellers who are bitten or scratched by an infected animal. Rabies is deadly unless it’s treated straight away, so travellers i ...

Tetanus

This terrible bug infects travellers around the world by getting into open wounds. It causes stiff jaw muscles, painful muscle spasms, a fever and a rapid  ...

Person to Person

Hepatitis A

An unpleasant bug which can cause nausea, abdominal pain and even liver failure. Travellers across most of the world should beware of contaminated food ...

Diphtheria

Nasty bug transmitted from person to person through close physical and respiratory contact. It can cause infection of the nasopharynx, which may lead to ...

Hepatitis B

A nasty bug which infects the liver and is passed on through bodily fluids. Look out for flu-like symptoms, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhoea, stomac ...

Measles

Horrible virus which infects travellers all over the world, causing cold-like symptoms, a fever, sore eyes and a blotchy rash. It can sometimes lead to pne ...

Meningococcal Meningitis

Life-threatening bacteria responsible for causing hearing loss, brain damage or death. Travellers in Africa can catch it through close con ...

Polio

This untreatable virus gives some people flu-like symptoms and nausea and 1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.

Tuberculosis

This horrible bug usually attacks the lungs, causing a cough that lasts a long time, weight loss, fever, night sweats, tiredness, loss of appetite and ...

Whooping Cough (Pertussis)

Travellers around the world should watch out for this menacing microbe. It causes a cough which lasts for several months, with intense b ...