Columbus and his comrades brought diseases to America, and now other countries are getting their revenge.

"I probably just touched something and didn't wash my hands before I ate," says Peter D. Richards '01, who deferred his first year of college to travel to Egypt with his brother.

During this seven-month excursion, Richards fell ill with amebic dysentery, which is caused by a parasite and produces severe intestinal discomfort including chronic diarrhea. He was hospitalized there.

"After I got a 103.5 degree fever, I decided the drugs they gave me in Egypt didn't work and I flew back to New York and saw a tropical disease specialist," Richards said.

Although this sounds like a rare experience, in reality, Richards represents one of many travelers who have suffered similar health problems--like diarrhea and fever--while traveling outside the United States.

The Invisible Threat

While expeditions to Western Europe and other industrialized areas do not generally pose health risks to Americans, visits to "developing" nations make travelers be on the alert.

Diseases like malaria and yellow fever, which almost never occur in the U.S., are everyday occurrences in many underdeveloped countries where, because of poverty, standards of sanitation and public health are lacking.