Australia and New Zealand 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. In Australia the mainland has tropical monsoon forests in the north and east, dry tropical forests, savanna and deserts in the center, and Mediterranean scrub and subtropical forests in the south. New Zealand has a temperate climate with the North Island characterized by subtropical forests and the South Island by steppe vegetation and hardwood forests. International travelers to Australia and New Zealand will, in general, not be subjected to the hazards of communicable diseases to an extent greater than that found in their own country. Of the arthropod-borne diseases, mosquito-borne epidemic polyarthritis and viral encephalitis may occur in some rural areas of Australia. Occasional outbreaks of dengue fever have occurred in northern Australia in recent years. Coelenterates (corals and jellyfish) may prove a hazard to the sea bather, and heat is a hazard in the northern and central parts of Australia.