The Ministry of Health has asked Umrah and Haj pilgrims arriving for this season's pilgrimage to fulfill vaccination requirements. In a statement issued to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Monday, it said those coming from yellow fever endemic countries should produce a valid health certificate of vaccination against the disease according to the International Health Regulations. The vaccination must be taken at least 10 days before arrival in the Kingdom. The yellow fever endemic countries are Angola, Benin, Sudan, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Burundi, Chad, Uganda, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Ethiopia, Democratic Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Kenya, Liberia, Sao Tomé and Principe, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mali, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Brazil, Bolivia, Suriname, Peru, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay. All pilgrims must produce a valid certificate of vaccination against Meningococcal meningitis taken less than 10 days before their arrival. They will be given a 500 mg preventive dose of ciprofloxacin on arrival in the Kingdom. Pilgrims coming from Uganda, Kenya, Benin, Angola, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Nepal will have to get their accompanying children under 15 years of age oral polio vaccine at least six weeks before arrival. They will be given another dose of oral polio vaccine upon arrival in the Kingdom. Those coming from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan must have oral polio vaccine six weeks before their arrival in the Kingdom, and prove this with an authenticated certificate. The Ministry of Health has recommended all pilgrims – domestic as well as those coming from abroad – to take vaccination against seasonal influenza virus. Pilgrims are prohibited to bring in any type of foodstuff, except the canned and sealed food. Any open foodstuff will be subject to inspection. All pilgrim aircraft, ships and other modes of transport arriving from the infected countries are required to present a valid certificate of the extermination of insects like mosquitoes on-board. In case of any medical emergency, the Saudi health authorities may take precautionary measures in coordination with the World Health Organization. __
