QUESTION What countries can malaria be found in? ANSWER Malaria is found on every continent of the world except Antartica—however, regular transmission every year mainly only occurs in Central and South America, Africa, parts of the Middle East, Asia and parts of Oceania/the Pacific Islands. The world's highest areas of malaria prevalence and transmission occur in sub-Saharan … [Read more...]
Malaria in Africa
QUESTION Why do Africans catch malaria more than others? ANSWER There are a number of reasons why malaria is more widespread in Africa than in many other parts of the world. However, it is worth mentioning that other parts of the world, such as India and south-east Asia, also have very high prevalence of malaria, especially in rural areas. The high transmission of malaria is Africa is … [Read more...]
Malaria Deaths in the Tropics
QUESTION What's the difference of malaria deaths between the subtropical and tropical regions and all the other regions? ANSWER I am assuming you are asking about the distribution of deaths caused by malaria between the tropics/sub-tropics and the rest of the world. 95% percent of all fatal malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa, which lies entirely in the sub-tropics and tropics. … [Read more...]
Does malaria kill?
QUESTION Is malaria a killer disease? ANSWER Yes. Malaria causes somewhere between 700,000 to 1 million deaths worldwide, mostly in children under five, and mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. As such, it is actually one of the leading causes of death in young children in developing countries. Given this high mortality, many initiatives working to control malaria are dedicated to reducing … [Read more...]
Malaria Mosquitoes Reveal Pathogen Defense Strategies
In analyzing malaria mosquitoes in sub-Saharan Africa, a Cornell-led team of researchers finds evidence of two very different evolutionary paths in the immune systems of neighboring mosquito groups. Genes in animal immune systems may evolve in one of two main ways in the constant fight against pathogens: They may evolve diverse forms of genes (alleles) to fight a wide variety of pathogens, or … [Read more...]