TY - JOUR AU - Mendelson, Marc AU - Han, Pauline AU - Vincent, Peter AU - von Sonnenburg, Frank AU - Cramer, Jakob AU - Loutan, Louis AU - Kain, Kevin AU - Parola, Philippe AU - Hagmann, Stefan AU - Gkrania-Klotsas, Effrossyni AU - Sotir, Mark AU - Schlagenhauf, Patricia T1 - Regional Variation in Travel-related Illness acquired in Africa, March 1997–May 2011 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2014 VL - 20 IS - 4 SP - 532 SN - 1080-6059 AB - To understand geographic variation in travel-related illness acquired in distinct African regions, we used the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network database to analyze records for 16,893 ill travelers returning from Africa over a 14-year period. Travelers to northern Africa most commonly reported gastrointestinal illnesses and dog bites. Febrile illnesses were more common in travelers returning from sub-Saharan countries. Eleven travelers died, 9 of malaria; these deaths occurred mainly among male business travelers to sub-Saharan Africa. The profile of illness varied substantially by region: malaria predominated in travelers returning from Central and Western Africa; schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis, and dengue from Eastern and Western Africa; and loaisis from Central Africa. There were few reports of vaccine-preventable infections, HIV infection, and tuberculosis. Geographic profiling of illness acquired during travel to Africa guides targeted pretravel advice, expedites diagnosis in ill returning travelers, and may influence destination choices in tourism. KW - travel KW - Africa KW - malaria KW - diarrhea KW - vaccine KW - HIV KW - tuberculosis KW - endemic KW - vector KW - viruses KW - parasites KW - helminth KW - bacteria KW - tuberculosis and other mycobacteria KW - plasmodium KW - falciparum KW - vivax KW - ovale KW - malariae KW - schistosomiasis KW - strongyloidiasis KW - dengue KW - podcast KW - enteric KW - respiratory KW - rabies KW - zoonoses KW - vector-borne infections DO - 10.3201/eid2004.131128 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/4/13-1128_article ER - End of Reference