Quoted in ProMED:

Visceral leishmaniasis was 1st described in Brazil in 1934 and 1st reported from Rio de Janeiro state in 1977.

90 percent of cases are reported from the north (mouth of the Amazon) and eastern regions. The disease is endemic to Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima and Sergipe. Urban transmission was 1st reported in 1981, from Teresina (Piaui State). A large focus extends from Roraima into Venezuela and Guyana.

The reported incidence has increased from 164 cases (35 fatal) in 1980 to 3220 (223 fatal) in 2005; see graph . A total of 44 289 cases were reported during 1980 to 2000, 39 823 of these from the northeast. Brazil accounts for over 90 percent of cases in the New World.
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Quoted in ProMED:

An ongoing epizootic in Campania highlights the fact that human brucellosis is more common in Italy than in any contiguous countries. I’ve compared regional disease rates on the graph.

Update: In an additional ProMED note, other countries were added to the comparison:

In comparing brucellosis rates in Italy to those of neighboring countries, the moderator suggested that data should also be expanded to include Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus.

Rates for the latter are contrasted on this graph.

Recent events in Antananarivo highlight the fact that Africa - and particularly Madagascar - have accounted for most of the world’s plague deaths since the 1980’s. See graph of reported plague deaths and graph of rates per 100,000.

Update: Appeared in ProMED, with the following commentary:

Readers should link to the URLs above to observe the reported deaths due to _Yersinia pestis_ from Gideon.

The 1st graph compares worldwide statistics as compared to Africa and as compared to Madagascar. It illustrates that over the years 1994 to 2003, the African continent is the source of most of the world’s reported cases of plague deaths, and since the increased incidence of plague in Madagascar in 1996, a significant percentage of the plague deaths were reported from Madagascar.

The 2nd graph reports plague deaths from 5 African nations, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, Congo DR, and Madagascar. In the years 1996-2003, Madagascar reported more deaths than any of the other 4 nations with Congo DR 2nd. In 1996 and 1997, Tanzania reported the 3rd most plague deaths among the 5 nations, but from 1998-2003, Uganda has taken that role. - Mod.LL