Heading to Morocco, Egypt, or Cape Verde? Here's Your Health Checklist

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Morocco, Egypt, and Cape Verde have become increasingly popular destinations for Canadian travelers — each offering something distinct, from Morocco's markets and desert landscapes to Egypt's ancient sites to Cape Verde's beaches. But each also comes with its own health prep checklist, and the three are more different than travelers often expect.

Morocco

Morocco doesn't require mandatory vaccinations for most travelers arriving from Canada, but several are strongly recommended:

• Hepatitis A and Typhoid — both spread through contaminated food and water, and relevant if you plan to eat at markets or travel outside major tourist areas
• Routine vaccines — Tdap and MMR boosters are worth confirming are current; measles cases are rising globally right now, which makes this more relevant than usual
• Rabies — worth considering if you'll spend time in rural areas or around animals
• Yellow Fever — only required if you're arriving from or have transited through a yellow fever-endemic country (parts of sub-Saharan Africa or South America); travelers coming directly from Canada are exempt

Note: a rabies case in a traveler returning from Morocco was reported recently, which is a good reminder that even "low mandatory requirement" destinations benefit from a proper consultation rather than assuming nothing's needed.

Egypt

Egypt's vaccine landscape depends heavily on your itinerary — a Nile cruise, a Red Sea beach stay, and a Cairo city trip carry different considerations:

• Hepatitis A and Typhoid — recommended for most itineraries, especially anything involving local food outside resort settings
• Yellow Fever certificate — may be required if you're arriving from or transiting through a yellow fever-endemic country; this is a common trip-planning surprise for travelers connecting through certain African or South American hubs
• Routine vaccines — same general recommendation as Morocco: confirm MMR and Tdap are current

If your trip includes a Nile cruise with multiple stops, treat it the way you would any multi-port itinerary — different stops can carry different specific guidance, so a full itinerary review matters more than a generic "Egypt" checklist.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde gets less travel-health attention than Morocco or Egypt, but it shouldn't be treated as a health-prep-free beach trip:

• Hepatitis A and Typhoid — standard recommendations for the region, tied to food and water exposure
• Yellow Fever — required if arriving from an endemic country, similar to Morocco and Egypt

What all three destinations have in common

All three sit in a broader North and West Africa risk profile where health authorities commonly recommend a similar core group of vaccines — hepatitis A and B, typhoid, and confirming routine immunizations are current — with additional recommendations layered on depending on your specific itinerary, activities, and length of stay.

The takeaway

These three destinations get grouped together in travel searches because they're all popular, accessible, and increasingly on Canadians' radar — but their actual health requirements diverge more than people expect. A consultation that reviews your specific itinerary (cities vs. rural stops, cruise ports, connecting flights through other regions) will always beat a generic country-level checklist.

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Booked a trip to Morocco, Egypt, or Cape Verde? Bring your full itinerary to Travelvax in BC and we'll build a vaccine and prevention plan specific to where you're actually going.‍