All of Malawi is a CDC malaria area. The lake and the parks each add a rule.

Are there mosquitoes in Malawi? Yes, and the CDC recommends malaria prevention medicine for the whole country, the lakeshore, the islands and the parks included, with no exception for the Zomba Plateau or Mount Mulanje. A June–September trip falls in the dry season, when mosquitoes tend to be fewer, and the two other things to plan for are lake water and tsetse flies.

Malaria: the whole country, highlands included

The parasite is mainly Plasmodium falciparum, resistant to chloroquine. Malaria mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, which on a lake trip means sunset on the beach and dinner on the deck. Repellent before sunset, long sleeves after dark and a net or screened room overnight cover those hours.

For yellow fever, the CDC says "Vaccine is not recommended," and Malawi doesn't require it on a direct trip from the US, but it does require proof from travelers 1 year or older arriving from a country with yellow fever risk, including layovers of more than 12 hours there. CDC's Level 2 Global Polio notice, updated September 23, 2026, lists Malawi, so ask the clinic about the one-time adult polio booster.

Lake Malawi and fresh water

For Cape Maclear, Likoma Island, Nkhata Bay and the rest of the lake, the CDC says, "Schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection that can be spread in fresh water, is found in Malawi. Avoid swimming in fresh, unchlorinated water, such as lakes, ponds, or rivers."

Tsetse flies in the parks

The CDC's Malawi page lists African sleeping sickness, spread by tsetse fly bites. Studies have documented tsetse in Liwonde National Park (2019) and inside Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve and Kasungu National Park (2000 and 2009), and a 2024 study names the areas around Vwaza Marsh in Rumphi and Nkhotakota as the country's main foci of human cases. Tsetse bite by day, the bite is painful, and dark blue and black have a reputation for drawing them, so wear neutral-colored long sleeves and trousers on game drives and walks. If a painful bite is followed by fever, tell a doctor, and name the parks.

The CDC also lists leishmaniasis, from sand flies that bite from dusk to dawn, and African tick-bite fever, a reason for a tick check after bush walks.

The dry season, and what changes

June to September is Malawi's dry season, and it tends to be cool in June and July and hot by September. Mosquitoes tend to be fewer than in the rains but still bite at dusk on the lakeshore, and tsetse stay a daytime nuisance on game drives in any month. The rains, roughly November to April, tend to bring the most mosquitoes, so an April trip catches their tail and October heat leads into them.

Where you're going

Continuing to Mozambique's coast, Victoria Falls or Tanzania? See our Mozambique, Victoria Falls and Tanzania briefings.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor reviews and a forum thread, newest first, and linked so you can read them in full. Conditions in camp change over the years and with the season.

• Kazuni Safari Camp, Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve · 2017

  A reviewer said the tsetse flies were the only real problem on their stay, and that wearing proper clothes limited it. TripAdvisor ↗

• Kazuni Safari Camp, Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve · 2010

  An earlier reviewer saw no tsetse at all around the camp and credited the tsetse traps there, but noted the flies are present deeper in the reserve where there are no traps. TripAdvisor ↗

• Cape Maclear

  A poster shared a local health clinic's warning that the Cape Maclear area is heavily infested with schistosomiasis, that people can be infected even by showering in lake water, and that treatment is timed about three months after the last contact with the lake. TripAdvisor ↗

Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Malawi, which parks you visited and whether you were in the lake. After time in a malaria area, that rule holds for a year.

Traveler questions