Business travelers understand that third-world countries don’t have the same health issues as the US – for instance polio outbreaks have recently been reported in some areas of Africa – but for most travelers, the biggest concern is avoiding the sniffles.

With a number of countries such as Switzerland and Japan facing an alarming number of measles  travelers can’t be complacent.

In both Japan and Switzerland, immunization levels are surprisingly low by US standards, as they are in Italy, Germany and Austria. As a side note, German doctors often blame the Swiss for any outbreaks in Germany, saying the disease is being imported. The Swiss, of course, remain neutral.

But back to business travel, the good news is that most US residents don’t have to worry about infection, as they were either born before 1957 or were vaccinated in childhood.  For anyone else, we say bring home Swiss chocolates and Swiss contracts, but review immunization records prior to travel to avoid Swiss measles.