QUESTION: Who found that malaria was caused by a mosquito? ANSWER: The man who first discovered that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes was a British Army doctor called Ronald Ross. Working in India in 1897-1898, Ross demonstrated how malaria parasites could be transmitted first between a patient and a mosquito, and then between hosts via mosquitoes (this latter work was done using … [Read more...]
Origin of Malaria
QUESTION: What is the origin of malaria? ANSWER: Malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite called Plasmodium; different species cause the different forms of malaria we see in different parts of the world. Malaria has been in existence for millions of years; it likely evolved from similar infections in other apes. Ancient people recognised the symptoms of malaria as early as 2700 BCE, … [Read more...]
Who discovered the disease malaria?
QUESTION: Who discovered the malaria disease and when? ANSWER: Malaria has been known for thousands of years; there are written accounts of the disease, including a description of its symptoms, in ancient Chinese medical texts from 2700 BCE. The ancient Romans and Greeks also knew about malaria. However, the causes of the disease were only discovered in the 19th century. In 1880, a … [Read more...]
Which doctor first linked Anopheles to cases of malaria?
QUESTION: Which doctor first found that Anopheles mosquitoes transmitted malaria? ANSWER: The first person to show conclusively that malaria could be transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes was Ronald Ross (later knighted in 1911 for his services to medicine). Working in the Presidency General Hospital in Calcutta (Sir Ronald was born in India and joined the Indian Medical Services in 1881 … [Read more...]