Travel health ยท Zambia
The Falls from the Zambian side, the Luangwa in the dry season โ and one warning most Zambia guides bury: some ordinary Canadian medicines are controlled substances here, and the permit takes longer than the vaccines do.
The short version
Most travellers to Zambia need 4 vaccines, and four to six weeks is enough time to do it properly.
Leaving sooner? Most of it can still be done โ we prioritise what matters for your route. Nobody gets turned away for booking late.
Recommended for essentially everyone going to Zambia.
CDC lists malaria transmission areas for Zambia as all of them, with no altitude line and no season attached. The Government of Canada says antimalarial medication is recommended for most travellers here and gives no area or seasonal exception either. Chloroquine resistance is present and P. falciparum is the main parasite, so the tablet has to be chosen rather than assumed.
Started before you fly โ how far before depends which one suits you. Bring a list of your other medicines so we can check for interactions.
Food and water, and the two sources agree without qualification: CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over going to Zambia, and the Government of Canada 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.
Blood and bodily fluids, which in practice means unplanned medical or dental care. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers younger than 60 and notes those 60 and over may also be vaccinated; the Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers. It matters here because the Government of Canada says medical care is very limited or unavailable in rural areas โ and the parks are rural.
The standard course runs over months. Faster schedules exist โ bring your dates.
CDC asks every traveller to be current before every trip โ chickenpox, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, flu, MMR, polio, shingles โ and asks all international travellers to be fully vaccinated against measles, currently carrying 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.
The honest answer to โam I too late?โ depends on the date. Put yours in and weโll work backwards. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Worth a conversation โ the answer changes with where youโre going and what youโll be doing.
The full list for Zambia. 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 Zambia, adds that infants aged six to eleven months should also be vaccinated, and notes particular provisions for travellers over 40, immunocompromised travellers and those with chronic conditions. The Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers to areas where hepatitis A is present.
Spread through blood and bodily fluids โ medical or dental care, tattoos, piercings, unplanned injuries. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers younger than 60 and notes travellers aged 60 and over may also be vaccinated; the Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers, noting hepatitis B is a risk in every destination. It matters here because rural medical care is described by the Government of Canada as very limited or unavailable.
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 Zambia-specific adult polio booster โ polio sits here in the routine list rather than as a destination ask.
CDC recommends it for most travellers to Zambia, especially those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas. The Government of Canada says the risk of typhoid here is low for most travellers, with a vaccine available that may be recommended for some depending on risk. For a lodge-based safari our pharmacist often sits nearer the Canadian wording; for a longer stay, a homestay, or weeks in small towns, nearer CDC. Injection or oral capsules; the capsules take a week to finish.
For the destination itself, CDC says the vaccine is generally not recommended for travel to North-Western Province or Western Province, and not recommended for any other area of Zambia. The Government of Canada says vaccination may be recommended depending on your itinerary โ a softer line. The entry requirement is the live part: CDC records it as required from one year of age for travellers arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever 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. The certificate becomes valid ten days after the dose and is issued only at a designated Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre. We are one, so if your routing turns out to need it, it is one appointment rather than a search.
CDC states dogs infected with rabies are commonly found in Zambia and rabies is present in some terrestrial wildlife, and notes treatment vaccines may be limited outside larger urban facilities. The Government of Canada calls rabies common here, carried by dogs and wildlife, and names children and adventure travellers among those for whom vaccination should be discussed. Pre-exposure vaccine does not remove the need for treatment after a bite โ it buys time, which is the argument on a remote park itinerary.
CDC describes active cholera transmission as widespread in Zambia and says vaccination may be considered for children and adults travelling to areas of active transmission. The Government of Canada says cholera is a risk in parts of the country, that most travellers are at very low risk, and that vaccination may be recommended for high-risk travellers. Both can be true at once; the answer moves with what your trip actually involves.
CDC advises all eligible travellers to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.
CDC recommends mpox vaccination for travellers anticipating sex with a new partner, sex at a commercial sex venue, sex in exchange for money or goods, or sex in association with a large public event, and asks for the first dose six weeks before travelling.
The Government of Canada notes chikungunya is present in Zambia with risk that varies, and that a vaccine is available in Canada. CDCโs Zambia page names dengue among the insect-borne illnesses but does not carry a chikungunya vaccination recommendation for this destination. Worth raising rather than assuming either way.
Honest about the risks, and specific about what prevents each one.
The Government of Canada states Zambia has very strict rules on importing medication and that certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs common in Canada are on the Zambian controlled-substances list. It asks travellers to check the legality of what they carry, and says an import permit may be required and should be obtained at least two weeks before travel. It also notes some prescription medications may not be available in Zambia.
Prevention Bring the real list of everything you take โ prescription and over-the-counter โ to the appointment, and do it early enough to leave two clear weeks. Carry everything in original labelled packaging in hand luggage, with enough for the whole trip.
CDC lists transmission areas as all of Zambia, with chloroquine resistance and P. falciparum as the main parasite. CDC also warns that stopping the medicine too soon can still leave you ill, and that a fever while travelling or at any point up to a year after you return should send you for care. The Government of Canada recommends antimalarial medication for most travellers here.
Prevention Prescription tablets, chosen against your route and your other medicines โ and finished properly after you get home. Plus repellent, long sleeves at dusk and a treated net.
Both sources warn about schistosomiasis in Zambia and neither names a specific lake or river. CDC describes transmission through wading, swimming, bathing or washing in contaminated fresh water and says plainly not to swim in fresh, unchlorinated water such as lakes, ponds or rivers. The Government of Canada asks travellers to avoid contact with untreated fresh water. There is no vaccine and no preventive medication.
Prevention Treat all untreated fresh water as the same category, because that is how the guidance is written. Chlorinated pools are fine. If a swim is part of a booked activity, raise it with us before you go.
The Government of Canada describes major road safety issues in Zambia, with fatal accidents common โ naming the Great East Road, the Great North Road and Kafue Road specifically. Those are the main arteries a driving itinerary uses.
Prevention No intercity driving after dark. A driver from your lodge or operator on the long transfers. Seatbelts, including in the back.
CDC names African sleeping sickness, African tick-bite fever, dengue and Rift Valley fever among what insects and animals carry in Zambia, along with leptospirosis, hantavirus and tuberculosis. African sleeping sickness is carried by tsetse flies, which is one reason repellent matters during the day and not only at dusk. The Government of Canada names dengue and chikungunya as present with sporadic or seasonal risk.
Prevention Repellent through the day, reapplied. Long trousers and closed shoes in grass and bush, and a tick check after a walking day. Permethrin-treated clothing for camping and walking safaris.
CDC says rabid dogs are commonly found in Zambia and rabies is present in some terrestrial wildlife, with treatment vaccines limited outside larger urban facilities. The Government of Canada also flags Rift Valley fever as an animal-contact risk. On safari the wildlife is managed by your guide; in towns it is the dogs, and children are the ones who approach them.
Prevention Do not touch or feed animals you do not know. Any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin: wash for fifteen minutes with soap and running water, then seek medical advice the same day. No unpasteurised milk.
The Government of Canada says quality of care varies significantly across Zambia โ generally good in some private facilities in Lusaka, very limited or unavailable in rural areas โ and asks travellers to hold insurance covering medical evacuation and hospital stays.
Prevention Buy the insurance with evacuation cover and read what it actually covers. Save the policy number offline. Ask the camp itself, not the agent, what happens if somebody needs a hospital at short notice.
Prevented with tablets rather than a vaccine, and only needed for some routes โ which is why the answer depends on your itinerary.
CDC lists malaria transmission areas for Zambia as ALL of the country. There is no altitude cut-off, no exempt city and no low-risk season written into the guidance โ Lusaka, Livingstone, South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi and Kafue are all inside it. The Government of Canada matches that with a plain statement that antimalarial medication is recommended for most travellers here.
Chloroquine resistance is present and P. falciparum is the main parasite, with P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax less common, so CDC lists atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine. Which one fits depends on your dates, your other medicines and the shape of the trip โ doxycycline needs care with sun exposure on an open vehicle, and mefloquine does not suit everyone. CDC adds two things worth repeating: finish the course after you get home, and treat a fever any time up to a year later as a reason to seek care and say where you were.
The things that prevent most travel illness are not medical.
This is the part where a pharmacy is more use to you than a guidebook. The Government of Canada states that Zambia has very strict rules on the importation of medication, and that certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs which are common in Canada appear on the Zambian list of controlled substances. It asks travellers to verify that what they carry is legal, and says an import permit may be needed and should be obtained at least two weeks before you travel. Read that deadline against the rest of this page: two weeks is longer than several of the vaccines need. It is also the one item where getting it wrong happens at a border rather than in a clinic. Come in with the actual list of what you take โ including the over-the-counter things you would never think to declare, because the warning covers those too โ and we will go through it with you and tell you what to check before you fly. The same source also notes some prescription medications may not be available in Zambia, so bring enough for the whole trip in original labelled packaging, in hand luggage.
CDC could not be clearer about the destination itself: the vaccine is generally not recommended for travel to North-Western Province or Western Province, and not recommended for travel to any other area of Zambia. The Government of Canada is softer, saying vaccination may be recommended depending on your itinerary. Where it becomes real is the entry rule. CDC records the vaccine as required from one year of age for travellers arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever virus transmission โ and explicitly includes airport transits or layovers of more than twelve hours. The Government of Canada says the same in its own words: proof is required if you are coming from, or have transited through an airport of, a country where yellow fever occurs. That matters from Calgary, because there is no direct flight and the usual routings to Lusaka connect through East African hubs โ exactly the region this rule is written about. Whether a particular connection trips it depends on the country and on how long you are on the ground: a three-hour change of plane does not reach CDCโs twelve-hour threshold, an overnight one can, and an earlier leg spent in a country where yellow fever occurs counts regardless. Bring your flight times, not just your flight numbers, and we will check it against both sources.
CDC lists malaria transmission areas for Zambia as all โ no altitude threshold, no exempt city, no low season written into the guidance. Chloroquine resistance is present. P. falciparum is the main parasite, the form that turns severe quickly, with P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax occurring less commonly. That leaves atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine as CDCโs listed options. Two things CDC adds that people get wrong: you have to finish the course after you come home, because stopping too soon can still leave you ill; and a fever any time up to a year after you return is a reason to seek care and mention Zambia.
People ask us about the Zambezi, and we are going to answer it honestly. Neither CDC nor the Government of Canada names Victoria Falls, the Zambezi or any particular lake anywhere in their Zambia guidance. What both do say is that schistosomiasis is a risk in Zambia and that travellers should avoid contact with untreated fresh water โ CDC lists wading, swimming, bathing and washing in fresh streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and untreated pools, and adds a plain instruction not to swim in fresh, unchlorinated water. There is no vaccine and no preventive medication. So we cannot tell you a particular pool is safe, and we would be inventing it if we did. What we can tell you is that the advice covers untreated fresh water as a category, that the Zambezi and Lake Kariba are untreated fresh water, and that if a swim is part of the trip you have booked, it is worth raising with us before you go rather than after.
Pages like this tend to grow. It is just as useful to know what neither source asks for. Neither CDC nor the Government of Canada raises meningococcal vaccination for Zambia โ unlike Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda, where the meningitis belt appears. Neither carries a Zambia-specific adult polio booster recommendation, the way both do for Ethiopia and the Government of Canada does for Uganda and Kenya. Polio still sits in the routine list to be kept current, and that is different from a destination-specific ask. If you have read one of our East African pages and assumed the same list applies here, it does not โ which is a good argument for bringing the whole itinerary rather than a country name.
On security, Zambia sits at the mildest end of this region: the Government of Canada advises taking normal security precautions overall, with a high degree of caution within 20 km of the Angolan, Congolese and Mozambican borders because of landmines and cross-border crime. Health care is the harder part. The Government of Canada says the quality of care varies significantly across Zambia: generally good in some private facilities in Lusaka, but very limited or unavailable in rural areas. It asks travellers to hold insurance covering medical evacuation and hospital stays. That is the reason hepatitis B and the rabies conversation carry more weight on a South Luangwa or Lower Zambezi itinerary than on a city trip, and the reason to ask your camp โ not your travel agent โ what actually happens if someone needs a hospital. On the roads it is blunt: major road safety issues, with fatal accidents common, especially on the Great East Road, the Great North Road and Kafue Road. Those are exactly the roads a self-driving itinerary uses.
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 personโs 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.
The Government of Canadaโs warning about Zambiaโs controlled-substances list covers over-the-counter drugs, not only prescriptions โ so the things you keep in the cupboard for the children are worth checking rather than assuming. Bring the actual boxes or a photo of them, and allow the two weeks a permit can take.
The four options CDC lists are not interchangeable for a child, and the dose follows weight rather than age. Bring current weights to the appointment; it saves a second visit. Since CDC lists the whole country as a risk area, this applies wherever in Zambia they are.
CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccine for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over and says infants aged six to eleven months should also be vaccinated, with an early measles dose in the same age band. Those early doses do not count towards the routine childhood schedule and are repeated later.
The Government of Canada names children specifically among those at higher risk of rabies exposure, and CDC says rabid dogs are commonly found in Zambia with treatment vaccines limited outside larger towns. Schistosomiasis has no vaccine, so staying out of rivers and lakes is the whole strategy. Both are easier to agree in the car than at the waterโs edge.
Check before you fly, and start early. The Government of Canada says Zambia has very strict rules on importing medication, and that certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs common in Canada are on the Zambian list of controlled substances. It asks travellers to verify that what they carry is legal and says an import permit may be required, obtained at least two weeks before travel. That deadline is longer than several vaccines need, which is why we put it first. Bring your full list โ including the over-the-counter things you would not think to mention โ and we will go through it with you. Carry everything in original labelled packaging in hand luggage, and bring enough for the whole trip, since the same source notes some medications may not be available there.
For Zambia itself, CDC says no โ the vaccine is generally not recommended for North-Western or Western Province and not recommended for any other area. The Government of Canada is softer, saying it may be recommended depending on your itinerary. The requirement is about 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 transmission, including 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 a country where yellow fever occurs. From Calgary that matters, because there is no direct flight and the usual routings connect through East African hubs โ the region this rule is written about. A short change of plane is not the same as an overnight layover, and an earlier leg spent in a country where yellow fever occurs counts either way, so bring your flight times rather than just the airline.
Yes. CDC lists malaria transmission areas for Zambia as all of the country, with no altitude, city or seasonal exception, and the Government of Canada recommends antimalarial medication for most travellers here. Livingstone is not carved out of that. Chloroquine resistance is present and P. falciparum is the main parasite, so the options are atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine. Tell us your dates and your other medicines and we will pick the one that fits โ and remember to finish the course after you get home.
We are going to give you the honest answer rather than the one you want. Neither CDC nor the Government of Canada names the Zambezi, Victoria Falls or any particular pool in their Zambia guidance. What both say is that schistosomiasis is a risk in Zambia and that you should avoid contact with untreated fresh water โ CDC puts it plainly: do not swim in fresh, unchlorinated water such as lakes, ponds or rivers. There is no vaccine and no medication to prevent it. So we cannot clear a specific swim, and anyone who tells you they can is going beyond the published advice. If a swim is part of the trip you have already booked, come and talk to us about it before you go.
Neither source asks for either as a Zambia-specific item, which surprises people who have read our Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia pages. The meningitis belt does not appear in the Zambia guidance from CDC or the Government of Canada, and neither carries a destination-specific adult polio booster recommendation here โ polio stays in the routine list to be kept current, which is a different thing. If Zambia is one leg of a wider African trip, though, the neighbours can change that answer, so bring the whole itinerary.
The Government of Canada describes the quality of care in Zambia as varying significantly โ generally good in some private facilities in Lusaka, very limited or unavailable in rural areas โ and asks travellers to carry insurance covering medical evacuation and hospital stays. So buy that insurance, read what it actually covers, save the policy number where you can reach it without data, and ask the camp directly what their arrangement is. A camp that answers that question well is telling you something useful about the rest of the operation.
The two sides of the Falls do not carry identical advice, so bring both halves of the itinerary to one appointment rather than assuming. Malaria tablets carry across without changing. What tends to differ is the security advisory, what each country says about buying medicine and getting care, and how each treats the yellow fever entry rule. We will build one plan across both rather than two half plans.
Nothing. The travel consultation is free โ a full itinerary review, every recommended vaccine discussed, and advice for your particular trip. You pay only for the vaccines actually given.
Designated Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
We are licensed to give yellow fever vaccine and issue the international certificate, here in Sunpark Plaza โ you do not need to find another clinic for it. The certificate becomes valid ten days after the dose, so this is the one to book first. Whether your itinerary actually needs it is the conversation we have at the appointment.
Bring your travel dates. A pharmacist will go through what you need for Zambia, 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 โ #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 doctorโs referral is needed. In Alberta a pharmacist can assess you, prescribe what your trip needs and give the vaccines in the same visit โ 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 โ if your trip is months away, check again or ask us.
