Tanzania now requires a health surveillance form from every traveller: what OTAs and airlines need to change

Tanzania's Ministry of Health issued Travel Advisory No. 18 on 17 October 2026, with immediate effect. Every traveller entering mainland Tanzania must now fill in the online Traveller's Health Surveillance Form at afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz. They can do it before departure or on arrival. They must keep the confirmation QR code or reference number for port health officers.

Until 17 October, the form applied only to travellers arriving from or transiting through the DRC or Uganda (Travel Advisory No. 17 of May 2026). The ministry cites the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and a recent case in Kenya in a patient who had travelled from the DRC.

This is a health formality, not a visa change. The eVisa, the passport rules and the mandatory inbound travel insurance that started on 1 October stay as they are.

What changed and what did not

Item Status on 21 October 2026

Traveller's Health Surveillance Form (mainland) Mandatory for all travellers, any nationality and any origin. Online at afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz, before departure or on arrival. Keep the QR code or reference number

Before 17 October Only arrivals from or via the DRC or Uganda (Advisory No. 17, May 2026)

Screening at entry Temperature and health screening of all travellers at airports, land borders and ports

High-risk travellers Mandatory follow-up for 21 days by daily automated messages or other means. Travellers must answer even after leaving Tanzania

Fee The advisory mentions none

Zanzibar Separate ministry and separate form at healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz (see below)

Visa, passport, inbound insurance Unchanged

Contacts Toll-free 199, [email protected]

Zanzibar is separate

Zanzibar has its own Ministry of Health and its own portal, healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz. Tour operators and the trade press report that Zanzibar's Travel Advisory No. 13 of 9 October 2026 requires the form from travellers arriving from or via the DRC, Uganda or Kenya. We could not open the Zanzibar ministry's own site on 21 October to confirm the wording. Check the portal before you hard-code a rule.

In practice:

A traveller who lands in Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro or a mainland land border needs the mainland form, whatever their origin.

A traveller who flies straight into Zanzibar from or via Kenya, Uganda or the DRC is reported to need the Zanzibar form (unconfirmed on the ministry site).

A mainland safari followed by a beach week on Zanzibar starts with mainland entry, so the mainland form applies on arrival in Tanzania.

What this means for travel sellers

OTAs and TMCs

Add the form to every Tanzania pre-trip message and booking confirmation, not only to itineraries that touch East Africa. A traveller flying in from Paris or New York now needs it too.

Tell travellers to fill it in during the 24 hours before arrival. The advisory allows "before departure or upon arrival". The portal itself advises within 24 hours before or on arrival. Arriving with the QR code saves time at port health.

One form per traveller, children included. A parent or guardian completes the child's form.

Link only to the official portal. The advisory names no fee, so a site that charges for the form is not the ministry's.

Check Kenya and Tanzania combinations. According to the US State Department and carrier notices, Tanzania is one of the 10 countries whose travellers must fill in Kenya's electronic health form. A Tanzania-to-Kenya leg triggers that form as well.

Insurance is still a separate requirement. Since 1 October, foreigners entering mainland Tanzania need an inbound travel insurance policy. The health form does not replace it.

Airlines and their agents

Put the AfyaMsafiri link in booking confirmations and check-in messages for all flights to Dar es Salaam (DAR), Kilimanjaro (JRO) and other mainland airports.

For Zanzibar (ZNZ) flights from Kenya, Uganda or the DRC, add the Zanzibar portal. That scope is reported, not confirmed on the ministry site.

The advisory does not ask airlines to check the QR code at boarding. Port health checks it on arrival. Do not deny boarding over the form, but do remind passengers.

All travellers and conveyance operators must follow the infection prevention measures in the advisory. A conveyance carrying a suspected case is decontaminated at the point of entry.

How SimpleVisa handles it

Treat mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar as two separate rule sets in your booking flow: the mainland form applies to everyone, while the Zanzibar form is reported to apply after recent travel through Kenya, Uganda or the DRC.

FAQ

Who needs the Tanzania Traveller's Health Surveillance Form? Every traveller entering mainland Tanzania, of any nationality and from any origin, since 17 October 2026. Before that date, only arrivals from or via the DRC or Uganda needed it.

When should travellers fill it in? The advisory allows before departure or on arrival. The portal advises within 24 hours before arrival or on arrival. Travellers keep the QR code or reference number for port health.

Is there a fee? The advisory mentions none. Use only the official portal, afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz.

Do children need their own form? Yes. One form per traveller. A parent or guardian completes the child's form.

Do airlines have to check the form at boarding? The advisory does not ask them to. Port health checks it on arrival.

Does it apply to Zanzibar? Zanzibar has its own form at healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz. It is reported to apply to arrivals from or via the DRC, Uganda or Kenya. We could not confirm that scope on the Zanzibar ministry's site.

Does the form replace Tanzania's inbound travel insurance? No. Since 1 October, foreigners entering mainland Tanzania need inbound travel insurance as well.

Operational guidance for travel sellers, not legal or medical advice. Entry decisions rest with Tanzania's port health authorities. Updated 21 October 2026.

Sources

Tanzania Ministry of Health, Travel Advisory No. 18 of 17 October 2026 on threat of Ebola outbreak (English) verified 21 Oct 2026 · Tanzania Ministry of Health, Mwongozo wa ushauri kwa wasafiri Na. 18 (Swahili version), 17 October 2026 verified 21 Oct 2026 · Tanzania Ministry of Health, Travel Advisory No. 17 of 18 May 2026 verified 21 Oct 2026 · Traveller's Health Surveillance Form (mainland) verified 21 Oct 2026 · Zanzibar Ministry of Health, traveller health portal verified 21 Oct 2026 · Kenya's 10-country health form list: US Department of State, Kenya Travel Advisory, 19 October 2026 verified 21 Oct 2026

Loris Mazloum

Founder, SimpleVisa

Loris Mazloum founded SimpleVisa and writes the coverage notes on this blog for airlines, OTAs, and other travel companies. Each note is checked against the government source named at the bottom before it publishes. SimpleVisa keeps requirement data for 190+ destinations and files applications where a government channel exists.