The Bijagós lodges sit inside Guinea-Bissau's malaria advice. Bring the yellow fever card too.

Are there mosquitoes in Guinea-Bissau? Yes, all year, and the CDC recommends malaria prevention medicine for the whole country, Bissau and the Bijagós islands included. Guinea-Bissau also requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from every arriving traveler 1 year and older, on any route, including from the US.

Yellow fever: the entry rule and patchy local coverage

WHO's 2025 table lists no confirmed yellow fever cases in Guinea-Bissau. The country ran its first nationwide preventive campaign in May 2025, vaccinating 1.6 million people, and a survey put coverage at 77%, below the level WHO's strategy needs to prevent outbreaks. Coverage was lowest, under 62%, in Bolama, SAB and Farim, and WHO called urban coverage, Bissau's included, suboptimal. Bolama region takes in the Bijagós islands. Patchy local coverage is one more reason to settle the vaccine early.

Malaria and the Bijagós eco-lodges

The CDC's wording is "CDC recommends that travelers going to Guinea-Bissau take prescription medicine to prevent malaria." Transmission occurs in all areas, mostly chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum, with no exception for Bissau, the islands or the dry season. People going home to see family are the travelers most often caught out. CDC notes that travelers visiting friends and relatives are at higher risk of malaria because they often skip prevention medicine.

The Bijagós eco-lodges are where the routine matters most. Bubaque, the hub, is reached by boat from Bissau, and lodges on the mangrove-fringed islands and creeks are likely to see mosquitoes after dark. Malaria mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, so put repellent on at sunset, wear permethrin-treated long sleeves in the evening and sleep under a treated bed net wherever the room is open to the outdoors.

CDC's Guinea-Bissau page lists Zika, leishmaniasis and African tick-bite fever among bug-borne diseases, and it doesn't list dengue. The Aedes mosquitoes that carry Zika bite in daylight, so add a morning coat of repellent; our dengue & Zika routine has the schedule. For pregnant travelers, CDC's advice is "Talk to a health care provider about potential risks. If you decide to travel, prevent mosquito bites and sexual exposure to Zika." The sand flies that spread leishmaniasis bite in the same dusk-to-dawn hours. Unlike its neighbors' pages, CDC's page lists no Lassa fever or Ebola. It does list schistosomiasis and leptospirosis, so avoid swimming in fresh water.

When to go

The dry season, roughly November to May, tends to bring the fewest mosquitoes, and it's when most visitors go to the Bijagós. The rains run roughly June to October, heaviest from July to September, and those months tend to be the worst. CDC's meningitis-belt advice covers the dry months from roughly December to June. Malaria medicine and the yellow fever certificate apply in every month.

Where you're going

The State Department advises travelers to reconsider travel to Guinea-Bissau (Level 3), as reported; check the current advisory. Adding a neighbor? Our Senegal and Guinea briefings cover their own rules.

One more rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Guinea-Bissau. That holds for a year after you get home. Medical care is limited, especially on the islands, so get care promptly.

Traveler questions