Ethiopia
April 2, 2013
Notice: Health Concerns in Ethiopia
On March 14, 2013, U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa released an important
message for U.S. citizens via email to U.S. adoption service providers
and a notice on the
U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa website
about a recent increase in suspected meningitis cases in Ethiopia.
The suspected cases are primarily in the Southern Nations,
Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), but the area of concern
extends north to include tourist areas around Hawassa and Lake
Langano. The Department of State shares the full text below in order
to ensure wide distribution among the adoption community. As always, we
recommend that adoptive parents and other U.S. travelers check
Travel.State.gov prior to traveling to Ethiopia or any other country for the latest travel information from the Department of State.
Many adopted children come from SNNPR, and adoptive parents are
encouraged to work with their adoption service providers (ASPs) to
ensure that children who come from affected areas are properly
evaluated by a medical professional, and that treatment or vaccination
be given if required. Given that children from all over Ethiopia live
together in care centers in Addis Ababa, all adoptive parents should be
aware that the risk of contracting meningitis is not necessarily
limited to children who come from the affected region. The Embassy’s
Consular Section can provide a list of pediatricians working in Addis
Ababa, but most ASPs have an existing network of health care providers,
and general inquiries about your child’s health situation are best
directed to your ASP.
On a related note, many adopted children face significant health
challenges in Ethiopia that require continuing treatment after
immigration to the United States. While the Embassy’s panel physician
evaluates children for their fitness to travel and the likelihood of
them transmitting a communicable disease, such as tuberculosis, it is
primarily the responsibility of the ASP and the orphanage to ensure
proper medical treatment from the time a child enters institutional
care until the day he/she travels to the United States. Adoptive
parents should expect that a child’s medical file will travel with
him/her from a rural clinic in the village where they were born, to the
pediatrician’s office in Addis Ababa, and then to be made available
for use by the child’s new physician in the United States. If such
information is not made available as a matter of course, adoptive
parents are encouraged to request it from their ASPs.
Embassy Addis Ababa Notice:
Meningitis
According to the World Health Organization, Ethiopia is currently at
the peak of the meningitis transmission season, which extends through
March and April up to the beginning of May. Suspected cases of
meningitis were reported in Southern Nation, Nationalities, and
Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) and Oromia Region. So far this year cases were
recorded in close to 60 woredas (local municipalities) across 14 zones
of SNNPR and Oromia, with upsurges of cases in 16 woredas of SNNPR and
Oromia. Woredas reporting increased cases of meningitis include
Arbaminch Zuria, Halaba, Hawassa town, Dale, Shebedino, Gorche, and
Wonsho in SNNPR, and Arsi Negele, Shalla, Shashemene Town, Shashemene
Rural, Dodolla, Siraro, Wondo, and Gedeb Assassa in Oromia Region.
In light of these findings, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa
recommends that U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Ethiopia avoid
travel to these areas unless they have been vaccinated against
meningitis within the past three years. If you were vaccinated
recently, do not travel to these affected areas for at least 14 days
after receiving the vaccination. (Meningitis vaccinations do not take
effect for 14 days.)
You can find detailed information on vaccinations and other health precautions on the
CDC website. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad, consult the
World Health Organization (WHO) website. The WHO website also contains additional health information for travelers, including
detailed country-specific health information.
If you are going to live in or travel to Ethiopia, please take the time to tell us about your trip by enrolling in the
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).
If you enroll, we can keep you up to date with important safety and
security announcements. It will also help your friends and family get
in touch with you in an emergency. You should remember to keep all of
your information in STEP up to date. It is important during enrollment
or updating of information to include your current phone number and
current email address where you can be reached in case of an
emergency.
