Table 2.

Health requirements and recommendations for entry visas for the Hajj and Umra seasons in 2014^a

	Countries or areas at risk	Requirement
Yellow fever	Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda South and Central America: Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago	A valid yellow fever vaccination certificate (≥10 days prior to arrival). In the absence of such a certificate, the individual will be placed under strict surveillance for 6 days from the last date of potential exposure to infection
Meningococcal meningitis	(a) Visitors from all countries	(a) Certificate of vaccination with the quadrivalent (ACYW135) vaccine issued not more than 3 years previously and not less than 10 days before arrival in Saudi Arabia
	(b) Visitors from the African meningitis belt: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan	(b) ACYW135 vaccine (as above) AND ciprofloxacin 500 mg chemoprophylaxis will be administered at the port of entry
	(c) Interior pilgrims and Hajj workers	(c) Vaccination with quadrivalent (ACYW135) vaccine is required for: • All citizens and residents of Madina and Makkah (not vaccinated during the past 3 years) • All citizens and residents undertaking the Hajj • All Hajj workers (not vaccinated in the past 3 years) • Any individual working at entry points or in direct contact with pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
Poliomyelitis	(a) Polio-affected countries and reestablished transmission countries: Pakistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia (b) Exporting countries (currently exporting wild poliovirus): Cameroon, Pakistan, Syria (c) Countries with unknown vaccination coverage: Yemen	Should ensure that all residents and long-term visitors (of over 4 weeks) receive an oral polio vaccine (OPV) or an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) 4 weeks to 12 months before international travel and should ensure that such travelers are provided with proof of vaccination AND all will receive one dose of OPV at the border on arrival to Saudi Arabia
Seasonal influenza	All	The Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia recommends that all pilgrims be vaccinated against seasonal influenza

^aThis is an updated version of a table published in the following article: Al-Tawfiq JA, Memish ZA. The Hajj: updated health hazards and current recommendations for 2012. Euro Surveill 2012;17. pii: 20295. Available online at http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20295 (with permission).