Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8, 913-930; doi:10.3390/ijerph8030913 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ISSN 1660-4601 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph Article Climate Change and Vector-borne Diseases: An Economic Impact Analysis of Malaria in Africa Aklesso Egbendewe-Mondzozo 1,*, Mark Musumba 2, Bruce A. McCarl 2 and Ximing Wu 2 1 Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, 86 Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA 2 Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, 2124 TAMU College Station, TX 77843, USA; E-Mails: mmusumba@vprmail.tamu.edu (M.M.); brucemccarl@gmail.com (B.A.M.); wuximing05@gmail.com (X.W.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: aklesso@msu.edu; Tel.: +1-517-353-2981; Fax: +1-517-432-1800. Received: 17 February 2011; in revised form: 18 March 2011 / Accepted: 21 March 2011 / Published: 23 March 2011 Abstract: A semi-parametric econometric model is used to study the relationship between malaria cases and climatic factors in 25 African countries. Results show that a marginal change in temperature and precipitation levels would lead to a significant change in the number of malaria cases for most countries by the end of the century. Consistent with the existing biophysical malaria model results, the projected effects of climate change are mixed. Our model projects that some countries will see an increase in malaria cases but others will see a decrease. We estimate projected malaria inpatient and outpatient treatment costs as a proportion of annual 2000 health expenditures per 1,000 people. We found that even under minimal climate change scenario, some countries may see their inpatient treatment cost of malaria increase more than 20%. Keywords malaria and climate change; semi-parametric modeling; cost of malaria treatment