The Republic of the Congo calls for malaria medicine everywhere and a yellow fever card at entry.

Yes. The CDC says malaria spreads in every part of the Republic of the Congo and recommends prevention medicine for all of it, from Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire to the gorilla camps of Odzala-Kokoua. The Congo also requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from every arriving traveler 9 months and older, including on a direct trip from the US.

Malaria and the yellow card

The CDC's wording is "CDC recommends that travelers going to the Congo take prescription medicine to prevent malaria." Transmission occurs in all areas, mostly chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. CDC also notes that people visiting friends and relatives are the travelers most often caught out, because they often skip prevention medicine.

Yellow fever cases are sporadic. WHO counted one confirmed case in 2025, an unvaccinated 10-year-old girl from Kibangou district in Niari department. In 2018 the health ministry declared an outbreak in Pointe-Noire, where surveys found high densities of Aedes aegypti, the city mosquito that carries the virus.

Malaria mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, so put on repellent at sunset, wear long sleeves after dark and sleep behind screens or under a net. In city hotels, check that the windows close and the net has no holes before the first night.

Chikungunya and the daytime shift

The government declared a chikungunya outbreak on February 9, 2019, and WHO counted 6,149 suspected cases from January 1 to April 14 that year, 47% of them in Kouilou Department, where the first case appeared in Diosso, about 16 miles (25 km) north of Pointe-Noire. It reached eight of the twelve departments, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire among them, with no deaths, and no outbreak has been reported since. CDC lists dengue too. Both viruses travel by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite in daylight with peaks after sunrise and in the late afternoon, so repellent goes on in the morning as well as at sunset. Our dengue & Zika routine has the schedule.

Odzala and the forest

Tsetse flies occur in Central Africa's forests, and CDC's Congo page lists African sleeping sickness, which their bites spread. Odzala-Kokoua's camps have a reputation for tsetse near the river and on boat trips, plus sweat bees and sand flies. Tsetse bite by day and can get through thin clothing, so light-colored long sleeves and long trousers do most of the work, and repellent has a reputation for doing less against them than against mosquitoes. CDC also says schistosomiasis is found in the Congo, so skip swims in rivers and lakes.

When to go

The June to September dry season tends to bring the fewest mosquitoes, and the rains, roughly October to May, the most. CDC's malaria advice applies in every month.

Where you're going

Brazzaville faces Kinshasa across the Congo River. WHO rates the Ebola risk as high for countries that border the DRC, though its October 23 update reported no cases in the Republic of the Congo. A side trip to Kinshasa changes your flight home, because CDC says anyone who has been in the DRC within 21 days can't board a commercial flight to the US. Our DR Congo briefing has the details, and our Gabon briefing covers the country next door.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from a TripAdvisor trip report and linked so you can read it in full. It isn't dated, and bites in the forest vary with the camp and the season.

• Odzala-Kokoua National Park

  A trip report covering the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic advises covering the legs because tsetse flies, sand flies and mosquitoes are a concern, and says wearing yellow shirts to put off tsetse gave mixed results. TripAdvisor ↗

One more rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in the Republic of the Congo. Malaria can show up weeks later.

Traveler questions