Nouakchott and the Adrar are CDC malaria areas. Nouadhibou and Zouérat are not.

Are there mosquitoes in Mauritania? Yes, and CDC recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria for all of the country except the two northern regions of Dakhlet Nouadhibou and Tiris Zemmour. That puts Nouakchott and the Adrar oases inside the malaria area, and dengue has been established in the capital since 2014.

Where CDC's malaria advice applies

Mauritania reported 77,369 confirmed malaria cases in 2024, up from 31,424 in 2023, according to WHO's World Malaria Report 2025. The parasite is mainly Plasmodium falciparum, resistant to chloroquine. Travelers visiting family are the ones malaria most often catches out, because they tend to skip the prevention medicine. Malaria mosquitoes and sand flies, which CDC lists for leishmaniasis, both bite from dusk to dawn, so put on repellent before sunset, wear long sleeves after dark and sleep in a screened room or under a net.

For yellow fever, CDC recommends the vaccine for travelers 9 months and older "going to areas south of the Sahara Desert," and not for "travel limited to areas in the Sahara Desert," which covers an Adrar trip. Where Nouakchott falls is shown on CDC's map, so settle it with the clinic.

Dengue in Nouakchott, Rift Valley fever in the south

Dengue became an urban disease in Nouakchott with the capital's first laboratory-confirmed epidemic in 2014, around the time Aedes aegypti was first reported there. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, citing Africa CDC, counted 110 dengue cases in Mauritania in 2026 as of August 30. Aedes bites in daylight, with peaks after sunrise and in the late afternoon, so in Nouakchott repellent goes on in the morning, not only at dusk.

Rift Valley fever follows heavy rains. WHO counted 46 confirmed human cases and 14 deaths from September 27 to October 30, 2025, in 11 districts, including the border regions of Assaba, Brakna and Trarza. Most people catch it from the blood or organs of infected animals and some from mosquito bites, so on family visits to herding areas, avoid contact with sick or slaughtered animals and raw milk.

CDC's Level 1 diphtheria notice for sub-Saharan Africa lists Mauritania and advises adults to have had a Td or Tdap booster in the last 10 years.

When to go

The cool, dry months, roughly December to March, are when most Adrar trips run, and they tend to bring the fewest bites. The rains fall roughly July to October, mostly in the south, and August to November tends to be the worst stretch. CDC's malaria advice applies in every month.

Where you're going

The US State Department's travel advisory for Mauritania has been reported at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, so check the current advisory before you book. Next stop Senegal or Morocco? Our Senegal and Morocco briefings cover both.

Two last notes. CDC says schistosomiasis is found in Mauritania, so avoid swimming in fresh water. And any fever during or after your trip needs prompt care and a malaria test, and you tell the doctor you were in Mauritania. After time in a malaria area, that rule holds for a year.

Traveler questions