Infectious disease risks
In addition to the information provided below, country-specific travel advice about infectious disease risks can be found on the CDC Travelers’ Health Destination pages.
Vaccine-preventable diseases
Since 2015, multiple diphtheria outbreaks have been reported, mostly in the Central Highlands and northern mountainous areas, with sporadic outbreaks in the Central Coast and Southern regions, possibly due to low vaccination coverage. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, national vaccination coverage for vaccine-preventable diseases (e.g., diphtheria, measles, rubella) has declined below levels needed to prevent outbreaks.
Ensure travelers to Vietnam are up to date on routine vaccines, including, but not limited to, diphtheria, measles, and seasonal influenza. Travelers should also protect themselves by getting vaccinated against typhoid and hepatitis A. Hepatitis B vaccination is advised, especially for long-term travelers and expatriates, given the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B in the population.
Enteric infections and diseases
Tap water is unsafe to drink in Vietnam. Ice is also unsafe because it is often made from tap water. Advise travelers to avoid eating raw or undercooked meat or seafood, uncooked vegetables, and raw fruits that they cannot peel themselves. Discourage travelers from eating food, especially uncooked, or drinking beverages from street vendors. Travelers with allergies should be particularly cautious in Vietnam because many foods items are unmarked and may contain peanuts, fish, or shellfish.
Alert travelers not to consume dishes containing uncooked blood or meat of pigs, wild boar, or other animals because of the risk of trichinellosis and Streptococcus suis infection (meningitis or septicemia). One popular traditional Vietnamese dish, tiet canh, is made using coagulated, fresh, raw blood mixed with cooked pieces of meat. It can be difficult to know just by looking if a dish contains uncooked blood. Ask, and when in doubt, do not eat it.
Flukes
Remind travelers not to consume raw or undercooked water plants (e.g., watercress), especially in the rural areas of the country. Vietnam reports cases of a variety of trematode infections, including Fasciola gigantica and Fasciola hepatica (see Post-Travel Parasitic Disease Including Evaluation of Eosinophilia). Annually, there are approximately 6,000-10,000 cases of trematode infections that require medical treatment throughout the country. Additionally, travelers should avoid raw, pickled, or undercooked freshwater crustaceans, including crabs and crayfish, as well as raw boar or deer meat, which can contain either the eggs or immature forms of lung flukes from the Paragonimus genus.
Respiratory infections and diseases
Avian influenza
Vietnam has reported sporadic cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus. Since 2003, 129 cases of H5N1 infection were recorded, with 50% mortality (65 deaths). No human infections with H5 influenza virus were reported between 2014-2021, but sporadic cases have been reported since then. Additionally, the first human case of influenza A (H9N2) in Vietnam was detected in 2024. Influenza A (H9N2) does not normally cause severe disease in humans, typically occurs in small children, and has less than 2% mortality. Influenza A (H5Nx and H9Nx) viruses are endemic in domestic poultry in Vietnam, with continued sporadic and geographically dispersed poultry outbreaks. Certain provinces within Vietnam vaccinate their poultry against influenza A (H5N1), which may reduce the incidental transmission of the virus to humans.
To reduce the risk of exposure to avian influenza viruses, advise travelers to avoid direct contact with live birds, including poultry (e.g., chickens and ducks) and wild birds; avoid touching surfaces that have bird droppings (i.e., feces) or other bird fluids on them; and avoid places where live birds are raised, kept, or sold (e.g., live bird markets).
As noted previously, travelers should avoid any dishes that contain uncooked (i.e., raw) or undercooked bird meat or products (e.g., eggs, poultry blood). Egg yolks should not be runny or liquid. Remind travelers to wash hands often with soap and clean water or to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (containing at least 60% alcohol) when soap and clean water are not available.
Coronavirus disease 2019
All travelers going to Vietnam should be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.
Tuberculosis
Vietnam has a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB. Immunocompromised travelers to Vietnam, including those living with HIV, are at increased risk for infection. Travelers can reduce their risk by avoiding close contact with people known to have active TB, especially in crowded and enclosed environments (e.g., clinics, hospitals, prisons, homeless shelters). To avoid bovine TB, travelers should refrain from consuming unpasteurized dairy products.
Sexually transmitted infections and HIV
There are an estimated 250,000 people living with HIV in Vietnam. Public health campaigns encouraging the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis and effective treatment using antiretroviral medications have helped decrease the number of people newly infected with HIV over the past 20 years. Nonetheless, there were an estimated 6,200 new infections in 2022. The main routes of transmission are through unprotected sex, injection drug use, and mother-to-child transmission.
In 2022, Vietnam reported its first 2 cases of monkeypox occurring in female travelers returning from overseas. After one year without any new cases reported, Vietnam witnessed a significant rise in monkeypox cases during 2023, with the majority of cases in and around Ho Chi Minh City. Other cases were mostly scattered in the Mekong Delta region. Approximately 75% of monkeypox infections occurred among men who have sex with men and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Ensure that travelers are aware of their risks for acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in Vietnam; counsel them to always use condoms during sex and to avoid injecting drugs or sharing needles. High-quality condoms are available in commercial markets in most urban areas. Travelers whose practices put them at high risk for HIV infection should discuss pre-exposure prophylaxis with their primary care and travel medicine providers (see Sex and Travel). Commercial sex work is illegal in Vietnam.
Soil- and water borne infections
Leptospirosis
Although leptospirosis is infrequently reported within Vietnam or from returning travelers (last reported in 2013), Leptospira spp. bacteria have been detected in rodents, especially those imported for food into Vietnam from Cambodia. Additionally, seroprevalence studies suggest that as many as 33% of people living in Vietnam have antibodies to at least 1 of 14 serovars of Leptospira. Discourage travelers from bathing, swimming, or wading in freshwater bodies of water such as rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and rice paddies.
Schistosomiasis
Although endemic to several countries in Asia and Southeast Asia—including Cambodia and Laos for Schistosoma mekongi and Indonesia, China, and the Philippines for Schistosoma japonicum—schistosomiasis is not a risk in Vietnam.
Vector-borne diseases
Dengue and Zika
Dengue is endemic in Vietnam and, although peaking during the summer rainy season, transmission occurs year-round. Travelers should protect themselves from dengue by preventing mosquito bites and controlling mosquitoes in and around their environments.
Zika is also endemic in Vietnam, but the risk to travelers is believed to be low. Because of the risk of birth defects in infants born to infected women, pregnant travelers should take special precautions and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. See Zika travel information on the CDC Travelers’ Health website for the most current recommendations for Zika.
Japanese encephalitis
Because Japanese encephalitis (JE) is endemic throughout Vietnam, CDC recommends JE vaccination for all travelers who spend ≥1 month in the country. Consider vaccination for short-term travelers who plan on spending time outside urban areas and might be involved in activities that expose them to the mosquitoes that transmit JE virus (e.g., camping, hiking, biking, or other outdoor activities, or staying in accommodations without air conditioning, screens, or bed nets). JE has seasonal peaks from May-October, and the highest rates of JE disease occur in the northern provinces around Hanoi and the northwestern and northeastern provinces bordering China. Personalized advice during a pre-travel consultation is important.
Malaria
Malaria in Vietnam is mostly caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax (see Yellow Fever Vaccine and Malaria Prevention Information, by Country and Map 1.5.44). Cases and deaths have decreased substantially in the past 15 years, and ongoing local transmission is primarily a concern in certain rural areas that are not included in most tourist itineraries.
There are no cases in the cities of Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Quy Nhon. Due to the rarity of malaria cases in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta areas, antimalarial drugs are not recommended for these regions; however, advise travelers to these areas to follow mosquito bite avoidance measures, such as wearing loose-fitting clothing (e.g., long pants, long-sleeved shirts) and using insect repellent.
Travelers to rural areas (not including the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta) should take malaria chemoprophylaxis. While atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine, or tafenoquine are options in some rural areas, travelers to the rural areas of the provinces of Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Kon Tum, Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, and Tay Ninh should avoid mefloquine due to resistance concerns and take only atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, or tafenoquine.