French Guyana is located in South America, and it is confronted with an endemic situation where waterborne diseases are widespread, especially among those 30,000 people without access to drinking water. In 2007, two notices of the French High Council for Public Health were issued, one concerning vaccination against typhoid and the other on conditions for improving water supply in Guyana. The latter served as a basis for proposing and implementing actions to "improve water quality for those who did not have access to it". Some foundation for further action was provided due to actions developed during the 1991 cholera outbreak there, when hand pumps and fountains were installed, and rainwater collection was promoted at the household level. Top priority is given to water supply provided by public facilities, especially through hand pumps. Rainwater harvest and storage is promoted for remote and very isolated households, including tools for purification through the use of a Brazilian-made ceramic filter. Important challenges are identified for the further, such as: conducting an evaluation of those technical choices made, developing a social and cultural understanding of drinking water and sanitation among the users, distribution and training for the use of water quality test kits, data sharing and exchange of good practice with neighbouring countries and an accurate mapping of enteric disease cases recorded in local health facilities.

The re-emergence of local transmission of chikungunya virus caused by Aedes albopictus since March 2010 in the Réunion Island, French territory in the southwest Indian Ocean, calls for better epidemiological surveys, vector control, and community-based chikungunya control. This paper describes the strategy and the new ways of vector control applied since the last major chikungunya virus outbreak in 2005-2007, and the high levels of collaboration with mayors and local associations for community involvement. Between March 17, 2010 (first chikungunya case) and July 1, 2010, 313 cases were investigated, 13,036 premises inspected, and 34,393 premises concerned by spatial treatment. The traditional entomologic indices don't explain the distribution map of chikungunya cases, and many other factors have to be measured for evaluating the risk of transmission, such as lifestyle, habitat, and the kind of environment the people live in. A big information campaign was conducted beside the implementation of traditional mosquito control techniques. The two themes of this campaign are environmental management and individual protection, considered as important components of chikungunya prevention. The outcome of the mosquito control strategy demonstrates that community participation is not enough, and more studies are required to define new ways of communication for promoting community-oriented activities to prevent chikungunya epidemics.

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