Malaria-endemic regions

Canadian Blood Services uses the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) malaria information to determine which regions have occurrences of malaria that are high enough to require medications to prevent infection. We have simplified this information using tables and maps.

The tables below are organized by country and geographical areas and highlight where the chances of acquiring malaria may be greatest.

For Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, only travel spots that you have spent more than 24 hours in would trigger a waiting period for you to donate blood or platelets. For example, if you are on a Caribbean cruise and it stops for a day trip (less than 24 hours) in Haiti, where the chances of acquiring malaria are high, you do not have to wait before donating.

We know that the criteria for malaria eligibility disproportionately affects people who have travelled to or immigrated from regions where malaria is endemic. We truly empathize that being turned away from donating blood may leave donors with a sense of frustration and disappointment.  

Canadian Blood Services is actively working to implement a test for malaria in our blood donation process that would allow more people who have travelled to or lived in malaria-endemic regions to donate. You can learn more by visiting our Malaria: information for blood and plasma donors page.

If you have any questions about malaria eligibility criteria or are wondering if you can donate, please call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283).

List of countries by name

Risk levels and their meanings

For the purpose of blood or platelet donation, malaria risk refers to geographical areas where medication to prevent malaria is recommended for travellers.

No risk

There is no malaria risk in the country or area

All risk

Whole country or area is a malaria risk

Partial risk

Some parts of the country are a malaria risk

CountryMalaria risk levelNotes
AfghanistanAll risk 
AlbaniaNo risk 
AlgeriaNo risk 
American SamoaNo risk 
AndorraNo risk 
AngolaAll risk 
AnguillaNo risk 
AntarcticaNo risk 
Antigua and BarbudaNo risk 
ArgentinaNo risk 
ArmeniaNo risk 
ArubaNo risk 
AustraliaNo risk 
AustriaNo risk 
AzerbaijanNo risk 
AzoresNo risk 
BahamasNo risk 
BahrainNo risk 
BangladeshPartial riskAll risk, except no risk in the district and city of Dhaka
BarbadosNo risk 
BelarusNo risk 
BelgiumNo risk 
BelizeNo risk 
BeninAll risk 
BermudaNo risk 
BhutanNo risk 
BoliviaPartial risk

Risk areas

BonaireNo risk 
Bosnia and HerzegovinaNo risk 
BotswanaPartial risk

Risk areas

BrazilPartial risk

Risk areas

British Indian Ocean Territory (includes Diego Garcia)No risk 
British Virgin Islands (includes Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and other small islands)No risk 
BruneiNo risk 
BulgariaNo risk 
Burkina FasoAll risk 
Burma (Myanmar)All risk 
BurundiAll risk 
CambodiaPartial riskRisk in rural and forested areas only.
No risk in the temple complex at Angkor Wat.
No risk in urban and non-forested areas including Phnom Penh (the capital) and Siem Reap.
CameroonAll risk 
CanadaNo risk 
Canary IslandsNo risk 
Cape VerdeNo risk 
Cayman IslandsNo risk 
Central African RepublicAll risk 
ChadAll risk 
ChileNo risk 
ChinaNo risk 
Christmas IslandNo risk 
Cocos (Keeling) IslandsNo risk 
ColombiaPartial riskAll risk except no risk in cities of Bogotá, Cartagena and Medellin
ComorosAll risk 
Congo, Republic of the (Congo-Brazzaville)All risk 
Cook IslandsNo risk 
Costa RicaPartial risk

Risk areas

Côte d'IvoireAll risk 
CroatiaNo risk 
CubaNo risk 
CuracaoNo risk 
CyprusNo risk 
Czechia (Czech Republic)No risk 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo - Kinshasa, formerly Zaire)All risk 
DenmarkNo risk 
DjiboutiAll risk 
DominicaNo risk 
Dominican RepublicPartial risk

Risk areas

East Timor (Timor-L'este)No risk 
Easter IslandNo risk 
EcuadorPartial risk

Risk areas

EgyptNo risk 
El SalvadorNo risk 
England (United Kingdom)No risk 
Equatorial GuineaAll risk 
EritreaPartial riskAll risk except no risk in city of Asmara
EstoniaNo risk 
Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)All risk 
EthiopiaAll risk 
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)No risk 
Faroe IslandsNo risk 
FijiNo risk 
FinlandNo risk 
FranceNo risk 
French GuianaPartial riskAll risk except no risk in Cayenne City
French Polynesia, including island groups of Society Islands (Tahiti, Moorea, Bora- Bora), Marquesas Islands (Hiva Oa, Ua Huka) and Austral Islands (Tubuai and Rurutu)No risk 
GabonAll risk 
Gambia, TheAll risk 
GeorgiaNo risk 
GermanyNo risk 
GhanaAll risk 
GibraltarNo risk 
GreeceNo risk 
GreenlandNo risk 
GrenadaNo risk 
Guadeloupe, including Marie-Galante, La Désirade & Îles des SaintesNo risk 
GuamNo risk 
GuatemalaPartial risk

Risk areas

GuineaAll risk 
Guinea-BissauAll risk 
GuyanaPartial riskAll risk except no risk in the cities of Georgetown and Amsterdam
HaitiAll risk 
Holland (Netherlands)No risk 
HondurasPartial riskAll risk except no risk in the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. Risk areas include tourist destinations of Roatán and other Bay Islands.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaNo risk 
HungaryNo risk 
IcelandNo risk 
IndiaAll risk 
IndonesiaPartial risk

Risk areas

IranPartial risk

Risk areas

IraqNo risk 
Ireland (Republic of Ireland)No risk 
IsraelNo risk 
Italy, including Vatican CityNo risk 
Ivory CoastAll risk 
JamaicaNo risk 
JapanNo risk 
JordanNo risk 
KazakhstanNo risk 
KenyaAll risk 
Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands), including Tarawa, Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) and Banaba (Ocean Island)No risk 
KosovoNo risk 
KuwaitNo risk 
KyrgyzstanNo risk 
LaosPartial risk

Risk areas

LatviaNo risk 
LebanonNo risk 
LesothoNo risk 
LiberiaAll risk 
LibyaNo risk 
LiechtensteinNo risk 
LithuaniaNo risk 
LuxembourgNo risk 
Macau Special Administrative Region, ChinaNo risk 
North MacedoniaNo risk 
MadagascarPartial riskAll risk, except no risk in the city of Antananarivo
Madeira IslandsNo risk 
MalawiAll risk 
MalaysiaPartial risk

Risk areas

MaldivesNo risk 
MaliAll risk 
MaltaNo risk 
Marshall IslandsNo risk 
MartiniqueNo risk 
MauritaniaPartial risk

Risk areas

MauritiusNo risk 
MayotteNo risk 
MexicoPartial risk

Risk areas

Micronesia, Federated States of; includes Yap Islands, Chuuk, Pohnpei, KosraeNo risk 
MoldovaNo risk 
MonacoNo risk 
MongoliaNo risk 
MontenegroNo risk 
MontserratNo risk 
MoroccoNo risk 
MozambiqueAll risk 
Myanmar (Burma)All risk 
NamibiaPartial risk

Risk areas

NauruNo risk 
NepalPartial risk

Risk areas

Netherlands (Holland)No risk 
New CaledoniaNo risk 
New ZealandNo risk 
NicaraguaPartial risk

Risk areas

NigerAll risk 
NigeriaAll risk 
NiueNo risk 
Norfolk IslandNo risk 
North KoreaAll risk 
Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)No risk 
Northern Mariana Islands, includes Saipan, Tinian and Rota IslandNo risk 
NorwayNo risk 
OmanNo risk 
PakistanAll risk 
PalauNo risk 
Palestine (West Bank)No risk 
PanamaPartial risk

Risk areas

Papua New GuineaAll risk 
ParaguayNo risk 
PeruPartial risk

Risk areas

PhilippinesPartial risk

Risk areas

Pitcairn IslandsNo risk 
PolandNo risk 
PortugalNo risk 
Puerto RicoNo risk 
QatarNo risk 
Republic of South SudanAll risk 
RéunionNo risk 
RomaniaNo risk 
RussiaNo risk 
RwandaAll risk 
SabaNo risk 
Saint Barthelemy (St. Bart's)No risk 
Saint EustatiusNo risk 
Saint HelenaNo risk 
Saint Kitts (Saint Christopher) and NevisNo risk 
Saint LuciaNo risk 
Saint MartinNo risk 
Saint Pierre and MiquelonNo risk 
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesNo risk 
Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)No risk 
San MarinoNo risk 
São Tomé and PrincipeAll risk 
Saudi ArabiaPartial risk

Risk areas

Scotland (United Kingdom)No risk 
SenegalAll risk 
SerbiaNo risk 
SeychellesNo risk 
Sierra LeoneAll risk 
SingaporeNo risk 
Sint MaartenNo risk 
SlovakiaNo risk 
SloveniaNo risk 
Solomon IslandsAll risk 
SomaliaAll risk 
South AfricaPartial risk

Risk areas

South Georgia and South Sandwich IslandsNo risk 
South KoreaPartial risk

Risk areas

SpainNo risk 
Sri LankaNo risk 
SudanAll risk 
SurinameNo risk 
Swaziland (now called Eswatini)All risk 
SwedenNo risk 
SwitzerlandNo risk 
SyriaNo risk 
TaiwanNo risk 
TajikistanNo risk 
TanzaniaAll risk 
ThailandPartial risk

Risk areas

TibetNo risk 
Timor-Leste (East Timor)No risk 
TogoAll risk 
TokelauNo risk 
TongaNo risk 
Trinidad and TobagoNo risk 
TunisiaNo risk 
Türkiye (formerly Turkey)No risk 
TurkmenistanNo risk 
Turks and Caicos IslandsNo risk 
TuvaluNo risk 
UgandaAll risk 
UkraineNo risk 
United Arab EmiratesNo risk 
United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Channel Islands)No risk 
United StatesNo risk 
UruguayNo risk 
U.S. Virgin Islands (includes St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix and other small islands)No risk 
UzbekistanNo risk 
VanuatuAll risk 
VenezuelaAll risk 
VietnamPartial riskRisk in rural areas except no risk in the Mekong and Red River Deltas. No risk in urban areas. (Common no risk destinations are cities of Da Nang, Haiphong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Nha Trang and Qui Nhon.)
Virgin Islands (British), including Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and other small islandsNo risk 
Virgin Islands (United States), including St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix and other small islandsNo risk 
Wake IslandNo risk 
Wallis and Futuna IslandsNo risk 
West Bank (includes Palestinian Territories)No risk 
Western SaharaNo risk 
YemenPartial riskAll risk except no risk in Sana'a
ZambiaAll risk 
ZimbabweAll risk