Travel health · Botswana
The delta, the salt pans, and a country that finally gives a straight answer — Botswana’s malaria risk is published district by district, and Gaborone has none at all.
The short version
Most travellers to Botswana need 4 vaccines, and four weeks is enough time to do it properly.
Leaving sooner? Most of it can still be done — we prioritise what matters for your route. Nobody gets turned away for booking late.
Recommended for essentially everyone going to Botswana.
Food and water, and one of the few things both sources state the same way: CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over going to Botswana, adding that infants aged six to eleven months should also be vaccinated, and the Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers to areas where hepatitis A is present.
Any time before you fly. One dose covers the trip; a second, six months later, covers decades.
Worth reading closely, because CDC words this more strongly for Botswana than for several neighbours: recommended for unvaccinated travellers of ALL ages, not only those under 60. The Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers. It matters because of where you will be — the Government of Canada says medical services are below Canadian standards outside Gaborone, and that facilities may lack basic supplies and have inadequate or obsolete equipment, especially in rural areas.
The standard course runs over months. Faster schedules exist — bring your dates.
CDC asks every traveller to be current before every trip — chickenpox, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, flu, MMR, polio, shingles — and asks all international travellers to be fully vaccinated against measles, including an early dose for infants aged six to eleven months. It currently carries a notice that measles cases are rising in many countries.
Tetanus if it has been more than ten years, which for most adults it has. Quick to check, quick to give — and a scrape in a camp is the usual reason it comes up.
Not a vaccine, but the Government of Canada asks for it directly: some prescription medications may not be available in Botswana, you are responsible for determining whether what you carry is legal there, and you should bring enough for your stay, keep it in the original container, carry a copy of your prescriptions and pack it in carry-on luggage. On a trip where the nearest pharmacy may be a charter flight away, that is not paperwork advice.
Ask a couple of weeks out rather than the day before — an extended travel supply usually needs a little notice.
The honest answer to “am I too late?” depends on the date. Put yours in and we’ll work backwards. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Worth a conversation — the answer changes with where you’re going and what you’ll be doing.
The full list for Botswana. Most people need the first two or three; the rest depend on where you are going and for how long.
Spread through contaminated food and water. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over going to Botswana, and adds that infants aged six to eleven months should also be vaccinated. The Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers to areas where hepatitis A is present.
CDC recommends hepatitis B vaccine for unvaccinated travellers of all ages travelling to Botswana — stronger than the under-60 wording it uses for several neighbouring countries. The Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers. Spread through blood and bodily fluids, which in practice means unplanned medical or dental care, tattoos, piercings and injuries. It carries weight here because the Government of Canada says facilities outside Gaborone may lack basic supplies and have inadequate or obsolete equipment.
CDC asks travellers to be up to date on routine vaccines before every trip and asks all international travellers to be fully vaccinated against measles, including an early dose for infants aged six to eleven months, and currently carries a global measles notice. Neither source adds a Botswana-specific adult polio booster — polio sits here in the routine list rather than as a destination ask.
CDC recommends it for most travellers to Botswana, especially those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas. The Government of Canada’s Botswana advice does not include a typhoid section, which is an absence rather than a disagreement — we show you that rather than filling the gap ourselves. Injection or oral capsules; the capsules take a week to finish.
CDC states that dogs infected with rabies are commonly found in Botswana and that rabies is present in some terrestrial wildlife, and notes that if an exposure occurs the vaccines may only be available in larger suburban or urban medical facilities. The Government of Canada says rabies is present, carried by dogs and some wildlife including bats, and that it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Pre-exposure vaccination is worth discussing for remote itineraries, longer stays, cyclists, runners, anyone working with animals, and families with young children — it does not replace treatment after a bite, but it shortens what you must reach.
CDC advises all eligible travellers to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.
Both sources say the vaccine is not recommended for travel to Botswana itself. It applies only as an entry rule based on where you are arriving from: CDC records it as required from one year of age for travellers coming from a country with risk of yellow fever virus transmission, including airport transits or layovers longer than twelve hours, and the Government of Canada requires proof from anyone coming from or transiting an airport of a country where yellow fever occurs. Bring the whole route with flight times if Botswana is one leg of a larger African trip. If it applies, the certificate becomes valid ten days after the dose and we are a designated centre, so it can be given and issued here.
The Government of Canada states there is a risk of chikungunya in Botswana, that the level of risk may vary by season, year, region and elevation, and asks travellers to protect themselves from mosquito bites at all times. CDC’s Botswana page names dengue among the insect-borne illnesses but does not carry a chikungunya vaccination recommendation for this destination. Bite precautions cover both.
The Government of Canada lists mpox vaccination, for those who are eligible, among the ways to lower the risk of sexually transmissible infections while travelling.
Honest about the risks, and specific about what prevents each one.
CDC names the transmission districts for Botswana: Bobirwa, Boteti, Chobe including Chobe National Park, Ghanzi, Mahalapye, Ngamiland, North-East including Francistown, Okavango, Serowe/Palapye and Tutume. It lists rare or sporadic cases in Kgalagadi North, Kgatleng, Kweneng and Southern, and no transmission in Gaborone. Chloroquine resistance is present and P. falciparum is the main parasite, with P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax less common.
Prevention Where CDC lists transmission, prescription tablets — atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine. Where it lists only rare or sporadic cases, CDC recommends no preventive medicine and insect bite precautions instead. Either way: repellent, long sleeves at dusk and a treated net.
The Government of Canada says quality of care varies greatly, that services are below Canadian standards outside Gaborone, that facilities may lack basic supplies and have inadequate or obsolete equipment for serious procedures especially in rural areas, and that you will likely need medical evacuation in the event of serious illness or injury. Private facilities may request proof of insurance or immediate payment in cash.
Prevention Travel insurance that names medical evacuation and hospital stays, bought before you go. Know whether it pays directly or reimburses. Policy number saved offline. Ask the camp what happens and how long it takes — and bring your own medicines, since some may not be available there.
The Government of Canada notes that national parks may not automatically provide a guide when you enter on your own, and that wildlife areas are not always fenced with few warning signs. It also names wildlife and stray livestock on the road among the causes of frequent fatal accidents. CDC adds that rabid dogs are commonly found in Botswana and that rabies is present in some terrestrial wildlife.
Prevention Hire a guide rather than assume one. Treat the ground between your tent and the vehicle as part of the park. Do not touch or feed animals you do not know — and any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin means washing for fifteen minutes with soap and running water, then medical advice the same day.
The Government of Canada says fatal accidents are frequent in Botswana, naming driving under the influence, pedestrians, wildlife and stray livestock on the road, and mobile phone use while driving. The distances between towns are long and the animals do not read the signs.
Prevention Avoid driving after dark — that is when animals on the road are hardest to see. Take the long transfers with a driver or a charter rather than a tired self-drive. Seatbelts, including in the back.
Both sources warn about schistosomiasis in Botswana. The Government of Canada asks travellers to avoid contact with untreated fresh water such as lakes, rivers and ponds — swimming, bathing, wading or swallowing it. CDC describes transmission through wading, swimming, bathing or washing in contaminated fresh water including untreated pools, and names leptospirosis as another reason to avoid contaminated water and floodwater. There is no vaccine and no preventive medication for schistosomiasis, and neither source clears the Okavango or any other particular water.
Prevention Treat untreated fresh water as one category, because that is how the guidance is written. Chlorinated pools are fine. If a water activity is part of your booked itinerary, raise it with us before you go rather than deciding at the bank.
The Government of Canada notes severe flooding, especially in the Chobe District in north-eastern Botswana, caused by high water levels in the inland Okavango Delta, which floods dry Kalahari land every year. That is a seasonal fact about the landscape rather than a disease, but it changes roads, access and how quickly anyone can reach you.
Prevention Check conditions for your dates before you commit to a driving route. CDC advises avoiding floodwater, which is also where leptospirosis appears.
CDC names dengue, African tick-bite fever, leptospirosis, hantavirus and tuberculosis among what travellers to Botswana may encounter. The Government of Canada names chikungunya as a risk that varies by season, year, region and elevation, and asks for mosquito bite protection at all times.
Prevention Repellent through the day, reapplied. Long trousers and closed shoes in grass and bush, with a tick check after a walking day. Permethrin-treated clothing for camping and walking safaris.
Prevented with tablets rather than a vaccine, and only needed for some routes — which is why the answer depends on your itinerary.
Unusually, CDC publishes this district by district. Transmission is listed in Bobirwa, Boteti, Chobe including Chobe National Park, Ghanzi, Mahalapye, Ngamiland, North-East including Francistown, Okavango, Serowe/Palapye and Tutume — so the delta, Chobe and most of the northern safari circuit are inside it. Rare cases or sporadic foci are listed in Kgalagadi North, Kgatleng, Kweneng and Southern. Gaborone, the capital, has no malaria transmission. The Government of Canada does not name districts, saying only that risk exists in certain areas or at certain times of year with medication recommended depending on itinerary and season.
Chloroquine resistance is present and P. falciparum is the main parasite, so for the transmission districts CDC lists atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine. For the districts with only rare or sporadic cases, CDC recommends no preventive medicine at all and insect bite precautions instead — which is a genuinely different answer from the one most African destinations get, and one of the reasons a Botswana consultation is worth having with your camp list in hand rather than a country name.
The things that prevent most travel illness are not medical.
Most destination guidance says "all areas" or "certain areas" and leaves you to guess. CDC does something better for Botswana: it names the districts. Transmission is listed in Bobirwa, Boteti, Chobe including Chobe National Park, Ghanzi, Mahalapye, Ngamiland, North-East including Francistown, Okavango, Serowe/Palapye and Tutume — which covers the delta, Chobe and the northern safari country most visitors come for. Rare cases or sporadic foci are listed for Kgalagadi North, Kgatleng, Kweneng and Southern. And Gaborone, the capital, is listed as having no malaria transmission at all. Then CDC does the thing that actually helps: for the districts with only rare or sporadic cases it recommends no preventive medicine, and says insect bite precautions alone. So "do I need tablets?" has a genuine, sourced, district-level answer here rather than a shrug. The Government of Canada is looser, saying risk exists in certain areas or at certain times of year with medication recommended depending on itinerary and season — which points the same way without the detail. Bring the actual list of camps and towns and we will work down it.
This is the part of a Botswana trip worth thinking about before you are in it. The Government of Canada says quality of health care varies greatly across the country, that medical services are below Canadian standards outside Gaborone, and that facilities may lack basic supplies and have inadequate or obsolete equipment for serious procedures, especially in rural areas. Then the sentence that matters most: you will likely need medical evacuation in the event of serious illness or injury. It adds that private facilities may request proof of insurance or immediate payment in cash. Put that together with a delta camp reached by light aircraft and the practical conclusions are clear. Buy travel insurance that names medical evacuation and hospital stays. Know whether it pays a facility directly or reimburses you afterwards, and carry the policy number somewhere you can reach without a signal. Ask the camp itself — not the agent — what actually happens if somebody needs a hospital, and how long it takes. And bring the medicines you rely on, because there will be no substitute available where you are going.
The Government of Canada’s overall advice for Botswana is to exercise a high degree of caution because of crime, noting that crime occurs throughout the country including in Gaborone, but especially in the border areas with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Inside that it makes two points about Botswana’s parks that people from a national-park culture like ours can misread. National parks may not automatically provide a guide when you enter on your own. And wildlife areas are not always fenced, with few warning signs. Read alongside the road safety wording — fatal accidents are frequent, with driving under the influence, pedestrians, wildlife and stray livestock on the road, and mobile phone use among the causes named — and self-driving Botswana becomes a genuine decision rather than a default. The same source also notes severe flooding, especially in the Chobe District in the north-east, caused by high water levels in the inland Okavango Delta which floods the dry Kalahari each year. None of that is a vaccine question. All of it belongs in the same conversation, because on this trip the things most likely to hurt you are not infectious.
Both sources agree here, which is worth saying plainly because they agree on so little across this region: CDC says the yellow fever vaccine is not recommended for travel to Botswana, and the Government of Canada says vaccination is not recommended. A Calgary-to-Maun or Calgary-to-Gaborone trip does not need it on health grounds. It returns only as an entry rule about your origin. CDC records the vaccine as required from one year of age for travellers arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever virus transmission, and explicitly counts airport transits or layovers of more than twelve hours in such a country. The Government of Canada requires proof from anyone coming from, or transiting an airport of, a country where yellow fever occurs. So a long layover in an East African hub can trigger it, and so can any earlier leg spent in a country where yellow fever occurs — which is what a combined safari itinerary usually is. Bring flight times, not just flight numbers. If it does apply, the certificate is valid ten days after the dose and we are a designated Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre, so it can be issued here.
Botswana asks for less than most of its neighbours, and knowing what is absent is as useful as knowing what is present. Neither CDC nor the Government of Canada raises cholera for Botswana. Neither raises meningococcal disease as a destination-specific vaccine — it appears only in the routine list. Neither adds a Botswana-specific adult polio booster, the way both do for Ethiopia and the Government of Canada does for Zimbabwe and Uganda. And on typhoid the two simply do not meet: CDC recommends it for most travellers to Botswana, especially those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas, while the Government of Canada’s Botswana advice contains no typhoid section at all. An absence is not a no, and we are not going to read it as one. For a lodge-based safari our pharmacist often lands nearer the Canadian silence; for a longer stay, a homestay, or weeks in small towns, nearer CDC.
The Government of Canada states that rabies is present in Botswana, carried by dogs and some wildlife including bats, and then says something it does not say on every page: rabies is a serious disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. CDC adds that dogs infected with rabies are commonly found in Botswana, that the virus is present in some terrestrial wildlife, and that if an exposure happens the rabies vaccines may only be available in larger suburban or urban medical facilities. That last part is the whole issue on a delta or Kalahari itinerary, where the nearest larger town is a flight rather than a drive. Pre-exposure vaccination does not remove the need for treatment after a bite. What it does is shorten and simplify what you have to reach in a hurry, which is exactly the constraint this trip creates.
Most people booking a travel consult with us are sorting out a household, not just themselves. A few things are different for children.
Bring the whole household to the same consultation. We review each person’s records separately but plan the trip as one, which usually means fewer visits and no repeated explanations. Tell us how many people when you book so we set aside the time.
Because CDC publishes Botswana’s malaria risk district by district, the answer for a child can genuinely differ between one half of a trip and the other. Where tablets are needed the options are not interchangeable for children and the dose follows weight rather than age, so bring current weights — it saves a second visit.
CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccine for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over going to Botswana and says infants aged six to eleven months should also be vaccinated, with an early measles dose in the same age band before international travel. Those early doses do not count towards the routine childhood schedule and are repeated later, so they will look like duplicates on the record.
The Government of Canada says rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, and CDC notes the vaccines may only be available in larger suburban or urban facilities. From a delta camp that is a flight, not a drive. Children approach animals, are bitten higher on the body and are least likely to report a scratch, so this is worth discussing per child before you book rather than after.
The Government of Canada notes wildlife areas are not always fenced and there are few warning signs. Ask your camp what they actually require for the ages travelling with you — some arrangements are simply not built for young children — and plan the days around the answer rather than discovering it on arrival.
It genuinely depends where you are going, and unusually there is a precise answer. CDC lists malaria transmission in Bobirwa, Boteti, Chobe including Chobe National Park, Ghanzi, Mahalapye, Ngamiland, North-East including Francistown, Okavango, Serowe/Palapye and Tutume — which covers the delta and the northern safari circuit. It lists only rare or sporadic cases in Kgalagadi North, Kgatleng, Kweneng and Southern, and for those it recommends no preventive medicine, with insect bite precautions instead. Gaborone has no transmission at all. So bring your list of camps and towns rather than the country name, and we will tell you which parts of your trip need tablets and which do not.
CDC lists Gaborone, the capital, as having no malaria transmission. That is CDC’s own wording rather than our reassurance. It does not extend to the rest of the country: the northern districts, the delta and Chobe are all listed as transmission areas, so a business trip to Gaborone and a delta safari are two different conversations even though they are the same passport stamp.
The Government of Canada is blunt about it: you will likely need medical evacuation in the event of serious illness or injury, medical services are below Canadian standards outside Gaborone, facilities may lack basic supplies and have inadequate or obsolete equipment especially in rural areas, and private facilities may request proof of insurance or immediate payment in cash. So the preparation is practical. Buy insurance that specifically names medical evacuation and hospital stays. Find out whether it pays a facility directly or reimburses you later. Save the policy number where you can read it without a signal. And ask the camp directly what their arrangement is and how long it takes — a camp that answers that well is telling you something about the whole operation.
Not for Botswana itself. Both CDC and the Government of Canada say the vaccine is not recommended for this destination, which is clearer agreement than you get on most questions in this region. It only applies if you arrive from a country where yellow fever occurs: CDC records the requirement from one year of age and counts airport transits or layovers of more than twelve hours, and the Government of Canada requires proof from anyone coming from or transiting an airport of such a country. A long layover in an East African hub, or an earlier leg spent in a country where yellow fever occurs, are the usual triggers. Send the itinerary with flight times and we will check. If it applies, we are a designated centre and can issue the certificate here.
We will give you the honest answer. Neither CDC nor the Government of Canada names the Okavango Delta, Chobe or any particular water in the schistosomiasis section of their Botswana guidance. What both say is that schistosomiasis is a risk in the country and that you should avoid contact with untreated fresh water — lakes, rivers and ponds, whether swimming, bathing, wading or swallowing it. There is no vaccine and no medication to prevent it. CDC also advises avoiding floodwater, in the context of leptospirosis. So we cannot clear a specific swim, and nobody working from these sources honestly can. Sitting in a mokoro is not the same as swimming beside it, and if getting into the water is part of what you have booked, come and talk to us before you go.
The two sources do not meet on this one. CDC recommends typhoid vaccination for most travellers to Botswana, especially those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas. The Government of Canada’s Botswana advice contains no typhoid section at all — which is an absence rather than a no, and we are not going to read it as agreement in either direction. Where it lands depends on your trip: for a short lodge-based safari our pharmacist often sits nearer the Canadian silence, and for a longer stay, a homestay or weeks in small towns, nearer CDC.
It is a real decision rather than a formality, and the Government of Canada gives you the reasons. Fatal accidents are frequent, with driving under the influence, pedestrians, wildlife and stray livestock on the road and mobile phone use named among the causes. National parks may not automatically provide a guide when you enter on your own. Wildlife areas are not always fenced and there are few warning signs. And severe flooding occurs, especially in the Chobe District, from the delta’s annual flood. If you do self-drive: no driving after dark, plan the distances honestly, and do not assume a guide comes with the gate fee.
Nothing. The travel consultation is free — a full itinerary review, every recommended vaccine discussed, and advice for your particular trip. You pay only for the vaccines actually given.
Bring your travel dates. A pharmacist will go through what you need for Botswana, give what can be given that day, and book anything that needs a second dose. No doctor referral, no wait list.
Written from current CDC and Government of Canada guidance, checked 31 July 2026. Advice for your particular trip comes from our pharmacist, in person.
Imagine Health Pharmacy & Travel Clinic — #4120, 15 Sunpark Plaza SE, Calgary, Alberta. In Sunpark Plaza, off Macleod Trail, serving Sundance, Midnapore, Shawnessy, Chaparral and the rest of south Calgary.
No doctor’s referral is needed. In Alberta a pharmacist can assess you, prescribe what your trip needs and give the vaccines in the same visit — so for most travellers this is one appointment, not a clinic queue and then a pharmacy.
The vaccine guidance on this page follows the official recommendations below, read and applied by a pharmacist. Where the two differ we say so rather than pick one.
Checked against both sources on 31 July 2026. Official advice changes — if your trip is months away, check again or ask us.
