Which insect transmits malaria

There are six different species of malaria parasite that cause malaria in humans: Plasmodium falciparum , Plasmodium vivax , Plasmodium ovale curtisi , Plasmodium ovale wallikeri , Plasmodium malariae and the very rare Plasmodium knowlesi.

Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the most common types of malaria parasite that infect humans. Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious, life-threatening infections in humans.

An Anopheles mosquito taking a blood meal from a human. Related Content:. Malaria: An Introduction. What are infectious diseases? Malaria Challenge. How helpful was this page? Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that in , million clinical cases of malaria occurred, and , people died of malaria, most of them children in Africa. Because malaria causes so much illness and death, the disease is a great drain on many national economies. Since many countries with malaria are already among the poorer nations, the disease maintains a vicious cycle of disease and poverty.

Top of Page. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken from an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria is not spread from person to person like a cold or the flu, and it cannot be sexually transmitted. You cannot get malaria from casual contact with malaria-infected people, such as sitting next to someone who has malaria.

Anyone can get malaria. Most cases occur in people who live in countries with malaria transmission. People from countries with no malaria can become infected when they travel to countries with malaria or through a blood transfusion although this is very rare. Also, an infected mother can transmit malaria to her infant before or during delivery.

Plasmodium falciparum is the type of malaria that most often causes severe and life-threatening malaria; this parasite is very common in many countries in Africa south of the Sahara desert.

People who are heavily exposed to the bites of mosquitoes infected with P. People who have little or no immunity to malaria, such as young children and pregnant women or travelers coming from areas with no malaria, are more likely to become very sick and die. Poor people living in rural areas who lack access to health care are at greater risk for this disease. Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness.

Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice yellow coloring of the skin and eyes because of the loss of red blood cells. If not promptly treated, the infection can become severe and may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death. For most people, symptoms begin 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, although a person may feel ill as early as 7 days or as late as 1 year later. Two kinds of malaria, P. Most people, at the beginning of the disease, have fever, sweats, chills, headaches, malaise, muscles aches, nausea, and vomiting.

Malaria can very rapidly become a severe and life-threatening disease. The surest way for you and your health-care provider to know whether you have malaria is to have a diagnostic test where a drop of your blood is examined under the microscope for the presence of malaria parasites.

If you are sick and there is any suspicion of malaria for example, if you have recently traveled in a country where malaria transmission occurs , the test should be performed without delay. CDC has a list of all the places in the world where malaria transmission occurs and the malaria drugs that are recommended for prevention in each place.

Many effective antimalarial drugs are available. Your health-care provider and you will decide on the best drug for you , if any, based on your travel plans, medical history, age, drug allergies, pregnancy status, and other factors.

To allow enough time for some of the drugs to become effective and for a pharmacy to prepare any special doses of medicine especially doses for children and infants , you may need to visit your health-care provider weeks before travel. Other malaria medicines only need to be started the day before travel and so last-minute travelers can still benefit from a visit to their health-care provider before traveling.

The drugs used to prevent malaria have been shown to be safe and well-tolerated for long term use. Anyone who goes to a country where malaria transmission occurs should take precautions against contracting malaria.

During the time that you have spent in the United States, you have lost any malaria immunity that you might have had while living in your native country. Back to Malaria. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite. The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The plasmodium parasite is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes, which are known as "night-biting" mosquitoes because they most commonly bite between dusk and dawn.

Malaria's health costs include both personal and public expenditures on prevention and treatment. In some heavy-burden countries, the disease accounts for:. Malaria disproportionately affects poor people who cannot afford treatment or have limited access to health care, and traps families and communities in a downward spiral of poverty.

Recent data shows that large-scale use of WHO recommended strategies could rapidly reduce malaria, especially in areas of high transmission such as Africa. WHO and Member States have made significant gains in malaria elimination efforts. For example, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have been certified recently for having eliminated malaria.

Country successes are due to intense national commitments and coordinated efforts with partners. Accueil General information: Malaria. Malaria: General information. Malaria is a disease caused by the parasite Plasmodium , which is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Only the Anopheles genus of the mosquito can transmit Malaria. To diagnose malaria, blood slides are examined under a microscope, where the parasite is seen inside red blood cells.

Rapid diagnostic test kits RDTs are used for diagnosing malaria in remote areas where microscopes cannot be used. Plasmodium vivax or P. Of these, infection with P. Chloroquine was the treatment of choice for malaria and is still followed in most countries for treatment of P.