One of the leading causes of blindness caused by infection is likely not one you would really clue into. Trachoma is a disease caused by bacteria and it can cause blindness, particularly in people in indigenous countries who do not have ready access to sanitary conditions or proper medical attention. Several African countries lead the pack in incidences of Trachoma.

This disease is contagious and is caused by bacteria called Chlamydia trachomatis, a bacterium related to the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia. This disease usually affects both eyes rather than just one. This is because the disease is spread through mucosal membranes, particularly secretions from the throat, nose and eyes.

Mosquitoes are at the heart of many tropical diseases and that includes the Chikungunya Fever. It is a viral infection spread by biting mosquitoes infected with a virus. The symptoms from this illness resemble those of dengue fever and can include arthritic pain in the joints, rashes and fever. While it is not usually life-threatening, it can be serious and keep you down and out for a while.

While the symptoms of Chikungunya fever have been traced back to the 19th century in India and other Asian countries, it wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that the virus causing the fever was pinpointed and the mosquito transmission validated. Typically, this fever, often nicknamed Chik fever, occurs in epidemics with a number of years between each outbreak.

Lassa fever is viral infection which was first discovered in the late 1960’s in West Africa. The virus which causes the illness was named Lassa, after the village where the first disease cases where identified. This is an animal-borne virus and is caused by an RNA virus called arenaviridae.

In areas of Africa where Lassa fever is a constant presence, there are occasional outbreaks where the death toll from it can climb. This is due mainly because the people who contract it already have compromised immune systems from fighting off a number of other diseases in the area. On the whole, Lassa is fairly mild and many people don’t show any symptoms. However about 15-20% of the people who do get it are already ill with something else and will present symptoms of the disease.

Traveling beyond the borders of your own country means that you could be entering an area in which waste management and water treatment facilities are a luxury. While foreign industrialized countries have ready access to proper medical facilities and such, the same cannot always be said for the water sources, whether by tap or through well areas. In addition, travel to third world or developing countries means that you should always assume that the water is not safe to drink.

Africa can be quite an adventure for travelers with the sweeping landscapes and the rich culture of the people. However, this continent also harbors many different tropical diseases which have killed millions of people around the world. One of these diseases, Ebola, is particularly scary because it is often fatal.

The Ebola virus originated in the tropical rain forests of Africa with animals such as the monkey mostly infected. This virus is transmitted from the animal to humans where it can then take a life of its own with transmission from human to human by direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, semen and more.

The safest places to travel to avoid malaria are typically the United States, Canada and Western Europe. Because there are so many places in the world to see however, malaria can be a problem in many other countries, especially if you find yourself in rural or country areas in these countries. Africa, by far, is the continent with the highest incidence of malaria. Several children die each minute in Africa from malaria.

While Africa has the highest occurrence of this disease, you can also expect to find malaria in the Middle Eastern countries in Asia, India, Eastern Europe, the large rural areas of South and Central America, the islands of Central America like the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and countries in the South Pacific area.

A boring looking fly is the cause of a systemic disease that occurs with some frequency in certain areas of Africa. The tsetse fly carries a parasite, a different one depending on the area of Africa which causes trypanosomiasis also known as sleeping sickness. It is the rural areas of East and West Africa that are often affected and the parasites are slightly different for each area – East African sleeping sickness is caused by the trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense while the West African one is trypanosome brucei gambiense.

If you plan to travel to South America or Africa, you could possibly run into one of the most prevalent tropical diseases there – yellow fever. It is a hemorrhagic disease caused by a virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which thrives primarily in the tropical regions of South America and the sub-Sahara areas in Africa.

Not as well known as other tropical diseases, the Buruli ulcer is still an infection to be reckoned with. Caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, this bacterium is in the same family as the bacteria that cause leprosy and even tuberculosis, two infections more known worldwide.

Infection from this Buruli bacteria causes quite a bit of damage to the soft tissues and the skin with the formation of ulcers. These ulcerated areas usually occur on the arms or legs. If these Buruli ulcers are not treated in the early stages of the disease, sufferers not only have to live with ugly deformed skin but also considerable pain in the joints as well as partial immobility.

Contaminated water is a big culprit in causing many diseases and cholera is one of them. The United States has virtually eliminated this bacterial disease as of the early 20th century thanks to cleaner water and waste management practices. However, the same cannot be said for other areas of the world.

Cholera causes extreme diarrhea resulting in quick dehydration and if left untreated, you could die within hours. In many unindustrialized areas of the world such as some of the countries in Africa and rural areas in Central and South America, Asia, India and the Middle East, cholera is common due to the lack of water treatment and sewage facilities that help create safer water for drinking and bathing.