[ DOH QUARANTINE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 31, September 12, 1961 ]

LATEST IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE BUREAU OF QUARANTINE



Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (c), Section 5 of Republic Act No. 123 and Section 19 of the Quarantine Regulations, attention is invited to the following vaccination certificate requirements for international travel:

A
Vaccination Certificate Requirements

1) Smallpox - arrivals from all countries.

2) Cholera - arrivals from coastal provinces of the People's Republic of China, Hongkong, Macao, Calcutta, and Sarawak ( Kuching and Simanggang). Any arrival from an infected local area not in possession of a valid certificate shall be placed in isolation for a period of five (5) days reckoned from the date of departure from the infected local area.  Any arrival from such areas with a valid certificate shall be placed under surveillance for a period of five (5) days reckoned from the date of departure from the infected local area.  No certificate is required from children under one year of age.  Such children, however, shall be placed under surveillance for the same period.

3) Yellow Fever - arrivals by air from:

(a)   South America: - Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia and Peru.

(b)   Africa: - Angola, Southern Cameroons, Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Ruanda Urindi, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Any person arriving by air from an infected local area without a valid certificate of vaccination against yellow fever shall be isolated until the certificate becomes valid or until a period of not more than six (6) days reckoned from the date of last possible exposure to infection has elapsed. No certificate is required from children under one year of age who are, however, subject to isolation or surveillance when indicated.

B
Validity of Certificates

1) The validity of a smallpox vaccination certificate shall extend for a period of three (3) years, beginning eight (8) days after the date of a successful primary vaccination or, in the event of a revaccination, on the date of that vaccination.

2) The validity of a cholera vaccination certificate shall extend for a period of six (6) months, beginning six (6) days after the first injection of the vaccine or, in the event of, a revaccination within such period of six (6) months, on the date of that revaccination.

3) The validity of a yellow fever vaccination certificate shall extend for a period of six (6) years, beginning ten (10) days after the date of vaccination or, in the event of a revaccination within such a period of six (6) years, from the date of that revaccination.  Such certificate is valid only if the vaccine used has been approved by the World Health Organization and if the vaccinating center has been designated by the health administration for the territory in which it is situated.

C
Management of Arrivals not Properly Documented

Any person arriving in the Philippines without the required vaccination certificates mentioned above shall be considered not properly documented.  Under the terms of paragraph 3.26 of the International Standards and Recommended Practices, Facilitation, Annex 9, to the Convention of the International Civil Aviation, such person may be refused admission and the operator shall be responsible for promptly returning him to the point where he commenced the use of the operator's conveyance.

However, should a person not properly documented as mentioned in the previous paragraph be finally admitted, the operator shall be responsible for all expenses that shall be incurred if the person shall be isolated.

Strict compliance with the requirements stipulated in this Quarantine Administrative Order is hereby enjoined.

Adopted: 12 Sept. 1961

(SGD.) J. C. AZURIN
Colonel, B. Q.
Director of Quarantine

Effective: 12 September 1961