South America is a large and heterogeneous subcontinent that extends from 12°27′ north to 53°54′ south, islands excluded from consideration, and from 34°77′ west to 81°19′ west, islands also excluded. Its landmass is of 17,840,000 km2 (6,890,000 mi2), or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface, with a population of roughly 370 million. The intense urbanization occurred during the twentieth century and still ongoing, as well as increasing migration has contributed to the present distribution of infectious disease in the subcontinent. Although there has been significant improvement in the health conditions, several infectious diseases are still endemic and epidemic in South America. Their distribution is far from homogeneous and considerable differences in disease surveillance account for much of this distribution. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 290308World Tourism Organization. Tourism Highlights 2009 (2010) Edition., , http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/UNWTO_Highlights09_en_HR.pdf, Available from Accessed September 15Antinori, S., Galimberti, L., Gianelli, E., Prospective observational study of fever in hospitalized returning travelers and migrants from tropical areas, 1997-2001 (2004) J Travel Med, 11, pp. 135-42Wilson, M.E., Weld, L.H., Boggild, A., Fever in returned travelers: results from GeoSentinel Surveillance Network (2007) Clin Infect Dis, 44, pp. 1560-8Freedman, D.O., Weld, L.H., Kozarsky, P.E., Spectrum of disease and relation to place of exposure among ill returned travelers (2006) N Engl J Med, 354, pp. 119-30an American Health Organization. Epidemiological Alert: Update on Dengue Outbreaks in the Americas (September 8 2010) (2010), http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3409&Itemid=2206, Available from, Accessed September 8Askling, H.H., Lesko, B., Vene, S., Serologic analysis of returned travelers with fever, Sweden (2009) Emerg Infect Dis, 15, pp. 1805-8Ansart, S., Perez, L., Vergely, O., Danis, M., Bricaire, F., Caumes, E., Illnesses in travelers returning from the tropics: a prospective study of 622 patients (2005) J Travel Med, 12, pp. 312-18Bastos, C.J., Aras, R., Mota, G., Clinical outcomes of thirteen patients with acute Chagas disease acquired through oral transmission from two urban outbreaks in Northeastern Brazil (2010) PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 15, pp. e711Pereira, K.S., Schimidt, F.L., Barbosa, R.L., Transmission of Chagas disease (American Trypanosomiasis) by food (2010) Adv Food Nutr Res, 59, pp. 63-85Miles, M.A., Orally acquired Chagas disease: lessons from an urban outbreak (2010) J Infect Dis, 201, pp. 1282-4Guzmán, M.G., Kouri, G., Dengue: an update (2001) Lancet Infect Dis, 2, pp. 33-42Halstead, S.B., Dengue (2007) Lancet, 370, pp. 1644-52Suaya J.A Shepard, D.S., Siqueira, J.B., Cost of dengue cases in eight countries in the Americas and Asia: a prospective study (2009) Am J Trop Med Hyg, 80, pp. 846-55Barnett, E.D., Yellow fever: epidemiology and prevention (2007) Clin Infect Dis, 44, pp. 850-6World Health Organization. Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria-2nd edn (2010) Geneva: WHOGabastou, J.M., Agudelo, C.I., Brandileone, M.C.C., Caracterización de aislaminetos invasivos de S. pneumoniae,Hinfluenzae y N. meningitidis en America Latina y el Caribe: SIREVA II, 2000-2005 (2008) Pan Am J Public Health, 24, pp. 1-15Agudelo, C.I., Castañeda, E., Corso, A., Resistencia a antibióticos no betalactamicos de aislamientos invasores de Streptococcus pneumoniae em niños latinoamericano. SIREVA II, 2000-2005 (2009) Pan Am J Public Health, 25, pp. 305-13Castañeda, E., Agudelo, C.I., Regueira, M., Laboratory-based surveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae invasive disease in children in 10 Latin American countrie. A SIREVA II project, 2000-2005 (2009) Pediatr Infect Dis J, 28, pp. e265-70Gales, A.C., Sader, H.S., Ribeiro, J., Antimicrobial susceptibility of Gram positive bacteria isolated in Brazilian hospitals participating in the SENTRY Program (2005-2008) (2009) Braz J Infect Dis, 13, pp. 90-8Rodriguez-Noriega, E., Seas, C., Guzmán-Blanco, M., Evolution of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones in Latin America (2010) Int J Infect Dis, 14, pp. e560-66Biedenbach, D.J., Toleman, M., Walsh, T.R., Jones, R.N., Analysis of Salmonella spp (2006) With resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones isolated in North America and Latin America: report from SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program (1997-2004). DiagnMicrobiol Infect Dis, 54, pp. 13-21