Kyrgyzstan Travel Health Guide: No Malaria, Serious Altitude, and the Dairy Rule Most Travelers Miss

Kyrgyzstan needs almost none of the medications travelers associate with adventure destinations, and one they almost never pack. There is no malaria anywhere in the country: the World Health Organization certified Kyrgyzstan malaria-free on 7 October 2016 after zero locally transmitted cases since 2011, so no antimalarial prescription is required. There is no yellow fever risk and no certificate requirement. What replaces the tropical disease list is elevation. The Ala-Kul Pass, on the single most popular trek in the country, tops out near 3,860 meters (12,660 feet), and travelers routinely go from Bishkek at roughly 800 meters to a 3,000-meter yurt camp within 48 hours. Acute mountain sickness, not an exotic infection, is the most common medical problem foreign visitors have here. Add brucellosis from unpasteurized dairy, where Kyrgyzstan carries one of the highest human incidence rates in the world, and rabies from stray dogs, and you have the real prep list.

Quick Facts: Kyrgyzstan Health at a Glance

• Region: Central Asia, landlocked between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Capital: Bishkek (about 800 m). Trekking hubs: Karakol (about 1,700 m), Naryn, Osh.
• Malaria: None. WHO certified Kyrgyzstan malaria-free on 7 October 2016. No prophylaxis needed anywhere, at any elevation, in any season.
• Yellow fever: No transmission risk and no certificate requirement under International Health Regulations.
• CDC travel health notice level: Level 1, practice usual precautions.
• Biggest medical risk for visitors: Altitude illness. Popular routes cross passes above 3,600 m within a few days of arrival at 800 m.
• Vaccines that matter most: Hepatitis A, typhoid, confirmed MMR immunity, hepatitis B for some itineraries, plus rabies and tick-borne encephalitis for trekkers and long-stay travelers.
• Brucellosis: Endemic and among the world's highest burdens. Kyrgyzstan reported 77.5 human cases per 100,000 population in 2007, and 5,087 acute cases between 2015 and 2020.
• Echinococcosis: Nationally reported surgical incidence of 13.1 cases per 100,000 per year, rising to 176 per 100,000 per year in the most endemic districts.
• US State Department advisory: Level 1, Exercise Normal Precautions, as of the 10 February 2026 update, with increased caution advised within roughly 30 km of the Tajikistan border.
• Trekking season: July through September for high passes. Snow can close routes above 3,500 m outside that window.
• Travel insurance: Strongly recommended, and medical evacuation coverage is close to essential outside Bishkek.

Why Kyrgyzstan Breaks the Usual Travel Health Script

Most travelers preparing for Kyrgyzstan start by searching for malaria pills and find nothing, then assume the country needs no health prep at all. That conclusion is half right and expensive to act on.

The mosquito-borne disease burden that shapes travel medicine advice for Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America genuinely does not apply here. No malaria, no dengue, no Japanese encephalitis, no Zika, no yellow fever. Kyrgyzstan's climate is continental and high, and the vectors that drive those diseases are absent.

What Kyrgyzstan has instead is a specific combination of hypoxia, livestock, and dogs. Roughly 90% of the country sits above 1,500 meters, pastoral herding is the backbone of rural life, and shepherd dogs and strays are everywhere the tourists go. Every meaningful health risk in this country traces back to one of those three facts.

Altitude Is the Number One Medical Issue in Kyrgyzstan

Altitude illness is the most common reason foreign visitors to Kyrgyzstan need medical attention, and the itineraries sold to tourists are built to cause it. Bishkek sits at about 800 meters. Song-Kul, a standard two-night yurt stay, sits at roughly 3,016 meters. The Ala-Kul trek out of Karakol crosses a pass at approximately 3,860 meters, with the lake itself at about 3,500 meters. On the Pamir Highway approach south of Osh, the Taldyk Pass reaches 3,615 meters, and drivers cross it in a single day from a starting elevation near 1,000 meters.

Acute mountain sickness typically begins 6 to 12 hours after arriving above roughly 2,500 meters. The classic presentation is headache plus at least one of nausea, fatigue, dizziness, or poor sleep. It is common, it is usually self-limiting, and it becomes dangerous only when travelers keep climbing through it.

The two serious forms are high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), which presents as breathlessness at rest and a wet cough, and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), which presents as confusion or an inability to walk a straight line. Both are medical emergencies, and both are treated the same way first: descend immediately.

The structural problem in Kyrgyzstan is that most trekking is unguided or lightly guided, cell coverage is patchy above the tree line, and helicopter evacuation is not a routine, quickly available service outside organized expeditions. Prevention carries more weight here than in destinations with dense rescue infrastructure.

Practical acclimatization rules for Kyrgyzstan itineraries:

• Spend at least one night in Karakol (1,700 m) or Naryn (2,000 m) before going to a high camp.
• Above 3,000 m, increase your sleeping elevation by no more than 500 meters per night where the route allows it.
• Treat any headache above 3,000 m as altitude illness until proven otherwise, and do not ascend further that day.
• Descend at the first sign of confusion, unsteadiness, or breathlessness at rest. Descent of 500 to 1,000 meters usually resolves symptoms fast.

Acetazolamide (Diamox) for Kyrgyzstan Treks

Acetazolamide is the standard prevention medication for altitude illness, and it is the single prescription most Kyrgyzstan travelers should be carrying. It works by mildly acidifying the blood, which drives faster breathing and speeds the body's natural acclimatization instead of masking symptoms.

The typical adult preventive dose is 125 mg twice daily, started 24 hours before ascending above 2,500 meters and continued for two days at maximum altitude. Common side effects are increased urination and tingling in the fingers, toes, and lips, plus a distinctive metallic taste in carbonated drinks. Acetazolamide is a sulfonamide derivative, so tell your clinician about any sulfa allergy.

Who should strongly consider it for a Kyrgyzstan trip: anyone doing Ala-Kul, anyone flying into Bishkek and reaching a 3,000-meter camp within 48 hours, anyone crossing Taldyk Pass en route to the Pamirs, and anyone with a prior history of altitude sickness.

Get acetazolamide sorted before you fly. Start your free pre-trip health check and a Wandr clinician can review your itinerary and send the prescription to your local pharmacy for pickup. More detail on dosing and side effects lives in our Diamox guide and our altitude sickness overview.

The Dairy Rule: Brucellosis Is the Risk Nobody Warns You About

Kyrgyz hospitality runs on dairy. Guests in yurt camps are offered kymyz (fermented mare's milk), fresh cream, homemade cheese, and kurut, the hard dried yogurt balls sold at every pass. Almost all of it is unpasteurized, and that is how brucellosis spreads.

Kyrgyzstan carries one of the highest human brucellosis burdens in the world. Reported incidence was 36 cases per 100,000 people in 2002 and 77.5 per 100,000 by 2007, and 5,087 acute cases were recorded between 2015 and 2020, peaking at 1,014 cases in 2017. Case-control work in the country identifies consumption of unpasteurized homemade cream and direct contact with livestock as leading risk factors.

Brucellosis is easy to miss because it does not look dramatic. It typically starts one to four weeks after exposure with fever that rises and falls, drenching sweats, joint and back pain, headache, and profound fatigue. Untreated it can settle into bones, joints, or heart valves, and treatment requires weeks of combination antibiotics. There is no human vaccine.

Prevention is entirely behavioral, and it is one decision: decline unpasteurized dairy. That means no kymyz, no fresh farm cream, no soft homemade cheese, and no unlabeled milk. Boiled milk in tea is fine. Hard aged cheese carries lower risk than fresh, but the safest line for a two-week trip is simply to skip the whole category and eat the plov, laghman, and bread instead.

Echinococcosis: Why You Should Not Pet the Shepherd Dogs

Cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are parasitic tapeworm infections passed from dogs to people, and Kyrgyzstan has some of the highest regional incidences on earth. One national report put surgical incidence at 13.1 cases per 100,000 population per year, reaching 176 per 100,000 per year in the most endemic districts. Surveys have found infection prevalence around 20% in dogs, and up to 64% cyst prevalence in sheep in parts of the Naryn region. Researchers documented an intense focus of alveolar echinococcosis in southern Kyrgyzstan in a 2018 CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases report.

Transmission happens when microscopic tapeworm eggs from dog feces reach the mouth, usually through hands after petting a dog's coat, or through unwashed produce. The parasite then forms slow-growing cysts, most often in the liver or lungs. Symptoms may take years to appear, which is exactly why travelers do not connect them to a trip.

The risk to a two-week tourist is genuinely low, but the preventive behavior costs nothing. Do not pet shepherd dogs or strays, wash hands before every meal in rural areas and after any animal contact, and wash or peel raw produce yourself. Dog ownership studies in the Alay Valley found dog owners had 1.8 times the infection risk of non-owners, which tells you the exposure route is close contact, not proximity.

Rabies: Assume Stray Dogs Are a Real Exposure Risk

Rabid dogs are common in Kyrgyzstan, and stray and semi-feral dogs are present around Bishkek neighborhoods, Osh markets, trailheads, and virtually every yurt camp. Rabies is essentially 100% fatal once symptoms begin and entirely preventable with prompt post-exposure care, which makes it the risk least worth gambling on.

Pre-exposure rabies vaccination does not remove the need for treatment after a bite, but it simplifies it enormously. Vaccinated travelers need only two additional vaccine doses after an exposure and do not need rabies immune globulin, which is the component most likely to be unavailable in Karakol, Naryn, or Osh. The current US schedule for pre-exposure prophylaxis is a two-dose series given on day 0 and day 7.

Pre-exposure vaccination is worth it for multi-week trekkers, cyclists, horse trekkers, anyone traveling with children, and anyone whose route is more than 24 hours from Bishkek.

If you are bitten, scratched, or licked on broken skin anywhere in Kyrgyzstan: wash the wound with soap and running water for a full 15 minutes, apply povidone-iodine or alcohol if available, and get to medical care the same day. Do not wait to see whether the animal looks sick. Our guides on the rabies vaccine and what to do after an animal bite abroad walk through the full sequence.

Ticks and Tick-Borne Encephalitis in the Tian Shan

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is present in Kyrgyzstan, with documented risk in Ala-Archa National Park just outside Bishkek and in the wider Tian Shan range. TBE is a viral brain infection spread by tick bites, and less commonly by unpasteurized dairy from infected animals, which is a second reason to skip the fresh milk.

Tick season in Kyrgyzstan runs roughly April through October, overlapping precisely with hiking season. Most infections are mild or asymptomatic, but a minority progress to meningitis or encephalitis, and neurological symptoms can persist for months.

The United States has one licensed TBE vaccine, TICOVAC, approved in August 2021 for people aged 1 year and older. The primary series is three doses: dose two 1 to 3 months after dose one, and dose three 5 to 12 months after dose two, with a booster at 3 years or later. CDC and ACIP frame TBE as a low risk for most travelers, with vaccination considered for those with extensive outdoor exposure during tick season. That description fits a Kyrgyz trekking itinerary better than it fits a city break.

Because the schedule stretches over months, TBE vaccination is a decision to make when you book the trip, not the week before. Everyone else relies on the same practical measures that work for all tick-borne disease: permethrin-treated clothing, DEET or picaridin on exposed skin, tucked trousers on trail, and a full-body tick check every evening. Our tick-borne encephalitis vaccine guide covers who actually meets the threshold.

Plague and Marmots: Rare, Real, and Easy to Avoid

Kyrgyzstan contains one of the most active natural plague foci in the world, in the Tien Shan focus of Issyk-Kul province, specifically the Sari-Dzhas area east of Lake Issyk-Kul and the Upper-Naryn area to the south. The reservoir is the gray marmot, Marmota baibacina, and its fleas, and researchers detected Yersinia pestis in marmots or their ectoparasites in 4 of 6 observation years at Sari-Dzhas.

The historical risk was real: the last large human outbreak in the Kyrgyz portion of the focus was in 1928 at Bash-Kaindi, with 54 deaths. Human cases today are exceptionally rare, and no ordinary tourist itinerary carries meaningful plague risk.

The prevention rule is short. Do not handle, hunt, feed, or photograph marmots at close range, do not touch dead rodents, and use insect repellent in high pasture. Marmots are charismatic and habituated near some trails, which is exactly why this warning is worth stating plainly.

Vaccines for Kyrgyzstan

Required Vaccines

None. Kyrgyzstan has no vaccination entry requirements for travelers arriving from the United States, and no yellow fever certificate requirement under International Health Regulations.

Recommended Travel Vaccines

• Hepatitis A: Recommended for essentially all travelers. Foodborne and waterborne transmission is the dominant travel risk in the country.
• Typhoid: Recommended for most itineraries, and particularly for travelers eating outside major hotels, staying in guesthouses or yurt camps, or visiting smaller cities and rural areas.
• Hepatitis B: Worth considering for longer stays, anyone who may seek medical or dental care locally, and anyone with a partner or activity risk.
• Rabies (pre-exposure): Recommended for trekkers, cyclists, horse trekkers, children, and travelers spending significant time away from Bishkek.
• Tick-borne encephalitis (TICOVAC): Consider for travelers with extensive outdoor or forest exposure during the April to October tick season. The full series takes months, so decide early.

Routine Vaccines to Verify

Confirm you are current on MMR, tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis, polio, varicella, influenza, and COVID-19. CDC advises that all international travelers be fully vaccinated against measles, and measles circulation across the WHO European Region, which includes Central Asia, has been elevated in recent years. Two documented MMR doses is the standard for adult travelers.

Book your travel vaccine appointment through Wandr and skip the phone-tag with pharmacies. Reserve a time at a partner pharmacy near you and a pharmacist administers your travel vaccines on-site, no separate doctor's visit required. Availability of TICOVAC in particular varies by location, so check early.

Medications You May Need for Kyrgyzstan

Altitude Sickness

Acetazolamide, as covered above. This is the highest-value prescription for the country and the one most travelers arrive without. → See the acetazolamide product page

Traveler's Diarrhea

Food and waterborne illness is the most likely thing to interrupt a Kyrgyzstan trip. Tap water is not reliably potable outside Bishkek hotels, meat is often prepared and stored without consistent refrigeration in rural areas, and the trekking season is also the hot season.

A standby antibiotic is standard practice. Azithromycin is the usual first choice for Central Asia, dosed as a single 1,000 mg dose or 500 mg daily for three days, and it also covers the Campylobacter strains that are resistant to fluoroquinolones. Ciprofloxacin remains an alternative for some travelers. Pair either with oral rehydration salts, which matter more than the antibiotic in the first 24 hours. → Azithromycin and ciprofloxacin product pages, plus our traveler's diarrhea guide

Motion Sickness

This one surprises people. Kyrgyzstan's road network means long days on unpaved switchbacks: the Osh to Sary-Tash route, the Kegeti and Song-Kul approaches, and the descent from Tosor. Travelers who never get carsick at home frequently do here. Meclizine or a scopolamine patch is a reasonable addition for anyone with any history of motion sickness.

Everything Else

Ibuprofen for altitude headache, loperamide for symptom control, oral rehydration salts, blister care, high-SPF sunscreen, and any personal maintenance medications in original labeled packaging with enough supply for the whole trip plus a week. Pharmacies in Bishkek are well stocked, but rural pharmacy access is limited and labeling is in Russian and Kyrgyz.

Bundle the trekking essentials in one order. See Wandr's comprehensive travel kit, sent to your local pharmacy for pickup before you leave.

Food, Water, and Sun Safety in Kyrgyzstan

Do not drink the tap water outside of Bishkek hotels, and use bottled or treated water in Karakol, Naryn, Osh, and every guesthouse and yurt camp. Mountain streams look pristine and sit downstream of grazing livestock, which makes Giardia a genuine risk on trek. Carry a filter or purification tablets for any water you draw from a stream.

Eat food that is served hot and freshly cooked. Plov, laghman, samsa, and shashlik straight off the grill are low risk. The higher-risk items are the ones handed to you as hospitality: fresh dairy, raw salads washed in untreated water, and meat that has been sitting out at a roadside stall.

UV exposure is the risk travelers underestimate most after altitude. UV intensity rises roughly 10% for every 1,000 meters of elevation, and snowfields near passes reflect a large share of it straight back at you. Use SPF 50, apply it to the underside of your nose and chin, and wear category 3 or 4 sunglasses on glacier and snow sections. Our high-altitude trekking packing list and food and water safety guide go deeper on both.

Medical Care and Evacuation in Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek has the country's best facilities, including the National Hospital and a growing set of private clinics, and routine private care is inexpensive by US standards at roughly $10 to $25 for a general practitioner visit. Physicians are well trained, but specialist depth, advanced imaging, and intensive care capacity lag behind what US travelers expect.

Outside the capital, capability drops quickly. Karakol and Osh have regional hospitals adequate for stabilization. On trekking routes, there is effectively nothing, and reaching a road head can take a full day on foot or horseback.

The practical implication: for anything serious, the plan is transfer to Bishkek and, for major trauma or critical illness, air evacuation out of the country. Medical repatriation flights from Manas International Airport can generally be arranged within about two days of booking, which is a meaningful delay if you have not pre-arranged coverage.

Travel Insurance for Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is one of the destinations where travel insurance stops being optional. The combination of high-altitude trekking, remote trailheads, limited local specialist care, and evacuation costs measured in five figures makes coverage the single best value purchase for the trip.

Check three things specifically before you buy. First, confirm the policy covers trekking to the altitude your itinerary actually reaches, since many standard policies cap covered activity at 3,000 or 4,000 meters and Ala-Kul sits right at that boundary. Second, confirm medical evacuation and repatriation limits of at least $250,000, given that an air ambulance out of Bishkek is not cheap. Third, confirm the policy covers horse trekking and mountain biking if those are on your plan, since both are frequently excluded as adventure activities.

Get travel insurance through Wandr and match the coverage to the altitude you are actually going to.

Your Kyrgyzstan Health Packing Checklist

• Acetazolamide (Diamox) for altitude prevention
• Standby antibiotic for traveler's diarrhea (azithromycin or ciprofloxacin)
• Oral rehydration salts, at least 6 sachets
• Loperamide for symptom control
• Ibuprofen or acetaminophen
• Water filter or purification tablets for stream water
• DEET or picaridin repellent, plus permethrin-treated hiking clothing
• SPF 50 sunscreen, SPF lip balm, and category 3 or 4 sunglasses
• Blister kit: hydrocolloid dressings and tape
• Antiseptic wipes and povidone-iodine for wound care after any animal contact
• Personal medications in original labeled packaging, full trip supply plus one week
• Copies of prescriptions and your insurance evacuation hotline number, saved offline

When to Start Preparing for Kyrgyzstan

Start four to six weeks out at minimum. That window covers hepatitis A and typhoid vaccination, a two-dose rabies pre-exposure series on days 0 and 7, an MMR catch-up dose if your records are incomplete, and enough time to fill an acetazolamide prescription and confirm you tolerate it.

If tick-borne encephalitis vaccination is on your list, start much earlier. The TICOVAC primary series runs over 5 to 12 months from first dose to third, so that decision belongs at the moment you book flights, not in the final month.

Travelers going during the July to September high season should also front-load insurance research, because the altitude-cap and adventure-activity exclusions are the details that take time to compare.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need malaria pills for Kyrgyzstan? No. The World Health Organization certified Kyrgyzstan malaria-free on 7 October 2016 after zero cases of local transmission since 2011. No antimalarial prescription is needed anywhere in the country, in any season, at any elevation.

What vaccines do I need for Kyrgyzstan? No vaccines are required for entry. CDC recommends hepatitis A and typhoid for most travelers, hepatitis B for some itineraries, and rabies or tick-borne encephalitis vaccination for trekkers and those with extensive outdoor exposure. Confirm you are current on MMR before you go.

Do I need Diamox for trekking in Kyrgyzstan? For most high-route itineraries, yes. Ala-Kul Pass sits near 3,860 meters and Song-Kul at roughly 3,016 meters, both reached within a few days of Bishkek at 800 meters. Acetazolamide at 125 mg twice daily, started 24 hours before ascent, meaningfully reduces acute mountain sickness risk.

Is the tap water safe to drink in Kyrgyzstan? No. Use bottled or treated water outside of Bishkek hotels, including for brushing teeth in guesthouses and yurt camps. Filter or chemically treat any water taken from mountain streams, since grazing livestock upstream make Giardia a genuine risk.

Can I drink kymyz or eat homemade cheese in Kyrgyzstan? It is the one hospitality item worth declining. Kymyz and homemade cream and cheese are unpasteurized, and Kyrgyzstan reported 77.5 human brucellosis cases per 100,000 population in 2007, among the highest rates worldwide. Boiled milk in tea is fine; fresh dairy is not.

Are stray dogs dangerous in Kyrgyzstan? Yes, enough to avoid contact entirely. Rabid dogs are common in Kyrgyzstan, and dogs also transmit echinococcosis, which has a reported surgical incidence up to 176 cases per 100,000 per year in the most endemic districts. Do not pet shepherd dogs or strays.

Is Kyrgyzstan safe to travel to right now? The US State Department lists Kyrgyzstan at Level 1, Exercise Normal Precautions, as of its 10 February 2026 update, with increased caution advised within roughly 30 kilometers of the Tajikistan border. Health-wise, the CDC assigns a Level 1 travel health notice.

How far in advance should I prepare for a Kyrgyzstan trip? Four to six weeks for most travelers. That allows hepatitis A and typhoid vaccination to take effect, a two-dose rabies series on days 0 and 7, and time to fill an acetazolamide prescription. Tick-borne encephalitis vaccination needs 5 to 12 months for the full series.

Do I need travel insurance for Kyrgyzstan? Strongly recommended. Specialist care is concentrated in Bishkek, trekking routes are remote, and air evacuation from Manas International Airport typically takes about two days to arrange. Confirm your policy covers the altitude on your route and includes medical evacuation of at least $250,000.

The Bottom Line

Kyrgyzstan is the rare destination where you can skip the antimalarial entirely and still get the prep wrong. Elevation is the thing to plan around: acclimatize deliberately, carry acetazolamide, and treat any headache above 3,000 meters as a reason to stop climbing. Then handle the two risks that come from living among livestock and dogs, by declining fresh dairy and keeping your hands off the shepherd dogs. Get hepatitis A and typhoid covered, verify your MMR, pack a standby antibiotic, and buy insurance that actually covers the pass you plan to cross.

Ready to get Kyrgyzstan-ready? Start your free pre-trip health check, or compare notes with our Uzbekistan travel health guide and Georgia travel health guide if you are building a wider Silk Road or Caucasus route.

Medical disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a licensed clinician about your specific health situation, medications, and travel plans. Health recommendations and entry requirements change without notice; verify current guidance with the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek before you travel.

Sources

• World Health Organization, "Kyrgyzstan receives WHO certification of malaria elimination" (7 October 2016): https://www.who.int/news/item/07-10-2016-kyrgyzstan-receives-who-certification-of-malaria-elimination
• Malaria Elimination Initiative, "Kyrgyzstan certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization": https://shrinkingthemalariamap.org/news/kyrgyzstan-certified-malaria-free-world-health-organization
• CDC Travelers' Health, Kyrgyzstan destination page: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/kyrgyzstan
• CDC Travelers' Health, Kyrgyzstan packing list: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/kyrgyzstan/traveler/packing-list
• CDC Yellow Book (Health Information for International Travel), contents: https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/contents/index.html
• CDC, "Tick-borne Encephalitis Vaccine Information for Healthcare Providers": https://www.cdc.gov/tick-borne-encephalitis/hcp/vaccine/index.html
• Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, "Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccine: Recommendations of the ACIP, United States, 2023": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10651317/
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• "First record of the human infection of Brucella melitensis in Kyrgyzstan: evidence from whole-genome sequencing-based analysis," Infectious Diseases of Poverty: https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-022-01044-1
• "Dissimilar local risk factors among patients diagnosed with cystic echinococcosis upon voluntary screening in highly endemic regions of Kyrgyz Republic": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11894009/
• "Dog ownership, dog behaviour and transmission of Echinococcus spp. in the Alay Valley, southern Kyrgyzstan": https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3806042/
• CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases, "Intense Focus of Alveolar Echinococcosis, South Kyrgyzstan" (June 2018): https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/16-1641_article
• "Marmots and Yersinia pestis Strains in Two Plague Endemic Areas of Tien Shan Mountains," Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2019): https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00207/full
• Travel Doctor Network, Kyrgyzstan tick-borne encephalitis risk: https://www.traveldoctor.network/country/kyrgyzstan/risk/tick-borne-encephalitis/
• U.S. Department of State, The Kyrgyz Republic Travel Advisory: https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/the-kyrgyz-republic.html
• Overseas Security Advisory Council, Kyrgyzstan Country Security Report: https://www.osac.gov/Country/Kyrgyzstan/Content/Detail/Report/7e0c25ce-7afc-4747-b3dd-1c2f0a33de8b