Malaria: Humanity's Oldest Scourge
What happened
Long before the great epidemics that struck suddenly and passed, malaria was killing people steadily, year after year. Caused by Plasmodium parasites and spread by the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes, it has afflicted humans since ancient times, shaping where people could live and helping to sap armies and empires. It remains one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year — most of them young children in Africa — though it is both preventable and curable.
Why it matters
Malaria may have killed more human beings over the ages than any other disease. Unlike the dramatic pandemics that flare and fade, it is a relentless, endemic killer that has been part of the human story from the beginning and still claims lives today.
Sources
- World Health Organization. Malaria (Fact Sheet) · Reputable source