As population mobility and global interconnectedness increase, and more people travel to tropical regions, the risk of importing infectious diseases has become higher than ever before. This risk has been highlighted by the recent outbreak in West Africa of the Ebola virus, isolated cases of which have been reported in Europe and the United States. Many infectious diseases are associated with similar generic symptoms, and assessing febrile illness in patients who have recently travelled can be difficult for primary and urgent care practitioners. This article explains how to assess the risk of specific travel-related conditions in such patients and to recognise when urgent actions, such as malaria testing, are required.