PAHO warns of growing malaria cases in the Americas

Washington, Sep 7 (Prensa Latina) The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) called Thursday for surveillance, diagnosis and timely treatment of malaria cases in the Americas, essentially in non-endemic countries.

September 7, 2023
16:33

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.

The symptoms of the disease include fever, vomiting, and/or headache. A characteristic malarial fever has ‘hot’, ‘wet’, and ‘cold’ phases and appears 10 to 15 days after the mosquito bites.

According to an epidemiological report recently issued by PAHO, 19 countries and non-endemic territories in the Americas are considered free of malaria transmission.

However, four of them -Argentina, Bahamas, Jamaica, and the United States- reported sporadic imported and locally transmitted malaria cases through their National Focal Points for International Health Regulations, even in areas where none had previously been registered.

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