Viral hemorrhagic fever hazards for travelers in Africa

This short review covers 6 viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) that are known t o occur in Africa: yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhag ic fever, Lassa fever, Marburg virus disease, and Ebola hemorrhagic fever. All of these have at one time or another affected travelers, often the adve nturous kind who are "roughing it" in rural areas, who should therefore be made aware by their physicians or travel health clinics about their potenti al risk of exposure to any VHF along their travel route and how to minimize the risk. A significant proportion of VHF cases involving travelers have a ffected expatriate health care workers who were nosocomially exposed in Afr ican hospitals or clinics. The VHFs are associated with a high case-fatalit y rate but are readily prevented by well-known basic precautions.