This section includes general information about health hazards as reported by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The region includes Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. It ranges from the deserts of the north to the tropical rain forests of the southeast. Of the arthropod-borne diseases , malaria and cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis occur in all eight countries.
Visceral leishmaniasis occurs in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Bancroftian filariasis is present in Costa Rica. Dengue fever and Venezuelan equine encephalitis may occur in all countries. The foodborne and waterborne diseases , including amebic and bacillary dysenteries and other diarrheal diseases and typhoid fever are very common throughout the area. All countries except Panama reported cases of cholera in 1996. Hepatitis A occurs throughout the area, and hepatitis E has been reported in Mexico.