On October 26, 1998, Hurricane Mitch claimed several thousand lives and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless in Central America. Numerous agricultural resources and infrastructure were destroyed. On November 1, France sent a fact-finding mission to prepare for the arrival of a humanitarian aid operation. For the first time, a team of epidemiologists accompanied the French relief teams (Civil Protection and SAMU Mondial) deployed to the area in the days that followed. These epidemiologists from the National Public Health Network intervened to: - rapidly assess epidemic risks in the affected regions; - provide epidemiological support to the French contingent; - provide methodological support to local health authorities to describe the cholera epidemic raging in Guatemala and assess its management; to assess and prevent health risks due to the environmental spread of drums containing pesticides in Honduras; and to manage a leptospirosis epidemic in Nicaragua. This experience demonstrated the value of incorporating epidemiological tools into a humanitarian aid framework. However, implementing an epidemiological approach from the exploratory phase onward would allow for a better alignment of the program’s objectives and resources with health needs. For this reason, it is recommended that an epidemiological dimension be integrated into the planning of humanitarian aid that France is likely to mobilize during such events. (R.A.)