Presentation by C. Verdugo, I. El-Masry, H. Hannah, F. Unger, M. Soliman, S. Galal, J. Lubroth and J. Yilma at the First African Regional Conference of the International Association on Ecology and Health (Africa 2013 Ecohealth), Grand-Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire, 1-5 October 2013.