http://www.path.org/vaccineresources/hepb-indepth.php
Hepatitis B disease is a global public health problem. The reach of the disease is worldwide; high endemicity is reported in Africa, Eastern Europe, South America, the eastern Mediterranean region, southeast Asia and China, and the Pacific Islands (except for Australia, New Zealand, and Japan). As much as 15 percent of the population in most of these areas are chronically infected carriers of the hep B virus— the agent that causes hepatitis B disease.