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I live in Brazil and I have a scheduled travel to France and Portugal.

I've asked on the Portuguese consulate and they told me I wouldn't need the vaccine to enter the country. I didn't ask on the French consulate, so it's the first question, but let's continue.

The point is, I don't intend to stay only Portugal for the whole duration of my travel. I wanted to visit some friends in Italy and maybe Scotland, and even participate in an event in Vienna, Austria.

So, could anyone tell me which of these countries (if any) requires any vaccine to allow the entrance? If possible, could anyone link me a reliable list of countries which require any vaccine?

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Yellow fever is a tropical disease and the vaccine is only mandatory in French Guyana so it should not be necessary to visit mainland France. I am also pretty sure it's not needed in Italy, Scotland or Austria. Indeed, I don't think I ever came across any mandatory vaccines for travelers outside of yellow fever in at-risk countries (i.e. tropical countries).

Routine vaccines like the tetanus vaccine are recommended – but not mandatory for visitors – pretty much everywhere. One issue that is specific to the region is tick-borne encephalitis. From the countries you want to visit, it's especially a concern in Austria, if you plan to go outdoors (Lyme disease, also carried by ticks, is an issue too but I don't know about recommended immunization – EDIT: check the comments for more info on that).

As far as I know, the rationale behind mandatory yellow fever vaccine (and the international agreements to enforce it) it to prevent visitors from importing the disease and starting an outbreak in a region where that's a risk. If a disease is endemic and the local population is immunized, there is no point in making a vaccine mandatory and devising some costly enforcement measures, it's mostly your problem if you get ill. That's why all the recommended (and useful!) vaccines are not mandatory.

Many lists are of recommended vaccines are available, here are a few

However, these lists are often designed for residents of a particular country (i.e. vaccines that are routine in France would not necessarily be explicitly listed on French sites, etc.) so it might be best to seek a Brazilian source.

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    About ticks in Austria: 80-90% of Austrians are vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis, and it's recommended if you go hiking in the woods, since the disease itself is incurable. There is no vaccination against Lyme disease, but it can be treated with antibiotics.
    – Heinzi
    Feb 16, 2014 at 11:37
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    Lyme disease vaccination is a surprisingly complex topic. Basically, there are vaccines available for veterinary use, but none currently on the market for humans. There used to be one, but it was withdrawn in 2002 due to safety controversy and poor sales.
    – Ilmari Karonen
    Feb 16, 2014 at 12:42
  • This answer has one major gap: many countries (although not France or Portugal) do require vaccination for visitors coming from endemic areas only. travelconnections.com/Health/yelfever.htm
    – lambshaanxy
    Feb 16, 2014 at 23:28
  • @jpatokal Useful info but where does it says otherwise? Maybe you can let me know what confused you but it's precisely what the third paragraph is about or what I mean by at-risk country (i.e. as opposed to a country where it's already endemic).
    – Relaxed
    Feb 17, 2014 at 7:33
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TL;DR: For Brazil to Portugal and France, no vaccination needed.

There are two issues to consider here:

  1. Does the country you are going to require yellow fever vaccination for all visitors? For the mainland EU, the answer is obviously "no", because yellow fever is not endemic to anywhere in Europe.
  2. Does the country require yellow fever vaccination for visitors coming from endemic areas? Brazil is on most lists of endemic countries, so this is an actual concern. Per this handy if terse reference chart, in continental Europe only Albania, Greece, and Malta require vaccination in this case. Portugal does require vaccination if you are going to the Azores or Madeira, but since you (presumably) are not, this does not apply.

Also, if you've already entered Schengen, there are no border controls for entering even Greece or Malta, so you will not be asked for a certificate in practice. Entering Albania would require passport control, and your Brazilian passport might raise questions, but I presume that's not on the agenda!

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    Needed to say: The absence of border control on entering Greece or Malta doesn't mean you can legally enter, it only means that nobody is going to verify it. (The feeling I got from the answer is sort-of "you need not care", which is not 100% true.)
    – yo'
    Feb 17, 2014 at 9:04
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I'm Brazilian as well, and I lived in Portugal for 12 years.

It never happened when I entered Portugal that someone asked me about the Yellow fever vaccine.

I think is not a problem to take the vaccine. Some immigration officers could complicate your trip.

For a Brazilian even more, because in Portugal, Brazilians don't have a very good reputation.

Take care and enjoy the countries you are going to, 12 years weren't enough to know all beautiful places in Europe.

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It's quite strange to ask for yellow fever vaccine in Europe - as far as I know, yellow fever doesn't exist in European countries at all, it's a tropical disease spread by insects that don't exist here.

That being said, if you've arrived in Portugal, you wouldn't get any serious border control afterwards, across most intra-EU borders you simply drive through without even stopping, much less being asked about any vaccinations. So if you've cleared the rules with Portugal consulate, you can not check the legal conditions elsewhere (although you might check the recommendended vaccinations).

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