What is malaria?
Malaria is a serious disease that spreads when you’re bitten by a mosquito infected by tiny parasites. When it bites, the mosquito injects malaria parasites into your bloodstream. Malaria is caused by the parasites, not by a virus or by a type of bacterium.
If it isn’t treated, malaria can cause severe health problems such as seizures, brain damage, trouble breathing, organ failure and death.
The disease is rare in the U.S., with about 2,000 cases per year. If you’re traveling to an area where malaria is common, talk to your healthcare provider about ways you can prevent being infected. People who are infected and travel to the U.S. can spread the disease if a mosquito bites them and then bites someone else.
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How common is malaria?
Malaria is common in tropical areas where it’s hot and humid. In 2020, there were 241 million reported cases of malaria throughout the world, with 627,000 deaths due to malaria. The majority of these cases occur in Africa and South Asia.
Where does malaria usually occur?
Malaria occurs all over the world and happens most often in developing countries and areas with warm temperatures and high humidity, including:
- Africa.
- Central and South America.
- Dominican Republic, Haiti and other areas in the Caribbean.
- Eastern Europe.
- South and Southeast Asia.
- Islands in the Central and South Pacific Ocean (Oceania).
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Who might get malaria?
Anyone can get malaria, but people who live in Africa have a higher risk of infection than others. Young children, older people and those who are pregnant have an increased risk of dying from malaria. People who live in poverty and don’t have access to healthcare are more likely to have complications from the disease.
More than 90% of malaria deaths occur in Africa, and nearly all of the people who die are young children. More than 80% of malaria deaths in the region in 2020 involved children under the age of 5 years old.
