South Africa’s largest and most popular national park is in the northeast corner of the country on the border with Mozambique. There are various accommodation styles within the park – lodges, campsites and glamping, as well as nearby hotels, villas and lodges. Most of the advice below also applies to parks surrounding Kruger.
The following information provides some broad and general guidelines about health risks and recommendations for travel to Kruger . This should not be taken as a substitute for a personal consultation with one of our travel health doctors, whose advice will be specific for you and your trip and may include other issues not mentioned here.
Six to eight weeks out from departure is a good time to have a travel health consultation. You may need blood tests to check immunity to diseases or need a course of vaccines like rabies for example, and this gives you plenty of time to get everything completed. If you are travelling sooner however it's not too late for an appointment, simply make one as soon as you can.
Mosquitoes transmit a number of diseases including malaria. While there are medication options to reduce the risk of malaria, mosquito avoidance is the only way to prevent many of the others.
Travellers diarrhoea, giardia and dysentery are just some of the illnesses caused by contaminated food and water. Don't drink the tap water whilst in the park.
Travellers should be up to date for routine childhood vaccines such as tetanus, measles and hepatitis B. Any of the following vaccines may also be recommended – hepatitis A, typhoid, rabies, influenza. Decisions regarding which are most appropriate depend on duration and nature of travel, itinerary, age, underlying medical conditions and past vaccination.
Hepatitis A vaccination is usually recommended for travel to Kruger National Park and South Africa.
Read MoreA food and water borne disease, typhoid vaccination is often recommended.
Malaria occurs year round but risk is by far highest in the wet season, September through to May. Most cases are falciparum malaria, the most serious form. Mosquito avoidance is essential. Preventative medication should be discussed with one of our doctors. Different options are available. We have malaria maps and knowledge to help guide this decision making process. Any fever after travel to malaria risk areas requires assessment and an urgent blood test to exclude malaria, whether or not preventive medication has been taken.
Read MoreThis is a fairly common and serious disease for travellers to Kruger. Take measures to avoid tick bites in the first place by wearing long sleeves and trousers (tucked into socks) when walking outdoors and use strong DEET repellent on any exposed skin. Inspect all areas of the body promptly at the end of the day and carefully remove any ticks. If infected, the site of initial inoculation develops a black scab followed by a widespread spotty rash and fever. Prompt medical assessment and treatment is necessary. Interestingly doxycycline, which may be used for malaria prevention, probably also reduces the incidence of African tick bite fever.
Ask your lodge/ campsite/hotel about food and water safety and observe good hand hygiene. Consider taking a medical and first aid kit with guidelines for use. Seek medical advice if persistent or severe illness, particularly for infants, the elderly or those with underlying medical conditions.
Read MoreAvoid being bitten or scratched by any mammal. Consider pre-travel rabies vaccination, especially if travelling more extensively through Africa. Thoroughly rinse and disinfect any animal wound and seek prompt medical care for post exposure vaccination and wound care.
Read MoreInfluenza is one of the most common vaccine preventable illnesses in travellers. In tropical climates there is no 'flu season', risk being all year round.
Read MoreSouth Africa has the greatest number of individuals with HIV in the world. Avoid the risk of transmission of this and other STD’s.
We generally think of Malaria and Hepatitis when we travel overseas, however Measles is usually long forgotten in the preparation. In fact there have been a significant amount of cases brought back to Australia by overseas travellers who are generally unaware that they are at risk. This has long known
MPox (formerly Monkey Pox) remains a concern in many parts of the world including Australia. Thankfully the risk to most travellers remains low but this is a dynamic space. Travelers should avoid close contact with persons with symptoms consistent with MPox; observe hand and respiratory hygiene and safer-sex practices; and
As there is no non-essential overseas travel at this time this article will simply remain as an information resource for COVID-19. See our main COVID-19 page for more detailed information. We hope to be able to inform our travelers once again after this crisis passes. The links below remain trustworthy
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