Southern Africa 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 Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Saint Helena, South Africa, and Swaziland. It varies physically from the Namib and Kalahari deserts to fertile plateaux and plains and to the more temperate climate of the southern coast. Arthropod-borne diseases such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, malaria, plague, relapsing fever, Rift Valley fever, tick-bite fever, and typhus (mainly tick-borne) have been reported from most of this area except St. Helena. Except for malaria in certain areas, these are not likely to be a major health problem for the traveler. Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) may occur in Botswana and Namibia. Foodborne and waterborne diseases are common in some areas, particularly amebiasis and Hepatitis A occurs in this area. Schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) is endemic in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and South Africa. With the exception of an epidemic in Namibia in 1993, few cases of poliomyelitis have been reported from these countries.