Malaria

Malaria is a preventable, life-threatening disease transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito.

There are four types of malaria that affect humans: Plasmodium falciparum (which is responsible for the vast majority of malaria deaths), Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium malariae.

Photo: James Gathany/CDC

Malaria is predominantly a disease affecting Africa, South and Central America, Asia, and the Middle East. The heaviest burden is in Africa, where around 90% of the approximately one million deaths from malaria worldwide occur each year.

Malaria is not endemic in the UK, but in the five years between 2003 and 2008, approximately 1600 cases have occurred every year on average in travellers returning to the UK from malaria-endemic countries, a decrease compared to a yearly average of 2000 cases during the previous ten years. The Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention in UK Travellers (ACMP) produce annual guidelines, which are included on this site, for health professionals advising travellers from the UK.

Rarely, malaria cases for which there is no explanatory travel history occur in the UK; these are termed 'cryptic' cases of malaria. Guidance (in the form of an internet-based toolkit) for those investigating cryptic malaria cases is available on this site.