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South Sudan
Health Overview
Key Health Risks
Health Risk Callout
Other Health Risks
Regional Information
Vaccine and Malaria Prevention
- Risk Level: High
- Areas: All areas year-round; highest during/after wet season May-October
- Recommended Drug: Atovaquone-proguanil; doxycycline; mefloquine; tafenoquine
- Drug Resistance: Yes
P. falciparum chloroquine-resistant hyperendemic including Juba. Top cause of death.
Physician Note
I do not recommend travel here currently. South Sudan is Level 4, non-emergency embassy staff left in March 2025, and the 2018 peace agreement has effectively been suspended — the first vice president has been on trial since September 2025 and elections loom in December 2026, so assume the security floor can drop without warning. These notes are for authorized NGO and UN personnel. The clinical headline is cholera: over 102,000 cases and 1,600 deaths by April 2026 per UN OCHA, with a case fatality rate above the emergency threshold — a treatment-access failure more than a virulence story. That means rigid water discipline and oral cholera vaccine counseling before deployment.
Malaria is hyperendemic chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum, including Juba, year-round — still the leading killer here, so prophylaxis is absolute. MenACWY for the December–June meningitis belt season, yellow fever certificate as a hard entry requirement, and a polio booster — South Sudan is on CDC's global notice. One routing note: WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency in May 2026, which complicates both the Nimule land corridor and Entebbe medevac routing — coordinate current screening requirements with your evacuation provider.
Pre-Departure Checklist
8+ Weeks
- DO NOT TRAVEL HERE — South Sudan is Level 4 (unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, health). Non-emergency embassy staff departed March 2025. Confirm whether the trip should proceed at all
- Yellow fever — REQUIRED; certificate needed for all travelers
- Polio booster — REQUIRED; South Sudan is on the poliovirus list
- Cholera — outbreak ACTIVE, with sustained response through 2026 per WHO AFRO; oral cholera vaccine counselling is reasonable for humanitarian deployments
- Meningococcal — meningitis belt; essential December–June
- Routine vaccines including MMR
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Typhoid
- Rabies
- Malaria prophylaxis for all areas year-round — chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum, hyperendemic including Juba, and the leading cause of death
2-4 Weeks
- Confirm medical evacuation cover including landmine and trauma, plus a security organization — both mandatory
- Confirm evacuation routing — Nairobi (AMREF) or Entebbe; the FAA NOTAM applies
- For itineraries near the DRC or Uganda borders, note the Ebola (Bundibugyo virus) outbreak in neighbouring DRC and Uganda, declared a WHO PHEIC on May 17 2026 — no transmission documented inside South Sudan; confirm current screening requirements on the Nimule corridor
- Water purification capability — many areas have no daily water supply
- Carry a complete medication supply from home
Day Of
- Police 777 — there is no ambulance service
- US Embassy +211-912-105-188; after-hours +211-912-105-107
- Juba Teaching Hospital, Juba
- Bottled or purified water only; thoroughly cooked food only
- Never leave marked paths — landmine contamination is documented
Trip Type Guidance
No trip types appropriate. Only authorized NGO/UN with landmine-aware planning.
