malaria

Ancient Malaria Genome from Roman Skeleton Hints at Disease’s HistoryGenetic information from ancient Roman remains is helping to reveal how malaria has moved and evolved alongside peopleBy Tosin Thompson & Nature magazineMalaria, an endemic disease caused by hematozoic parasites (Plasmodium falciparum) transmitted by the blood to humans through the bite of the female anophele mosquito. Credit: BSIP SA/Alamy Stock PhotoResearchers have sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the deadliest form of malaria from an ancient…

NASA satellites have emerged as a vital tool in the fight against malaria outbreaks in the Amazon Rainforest, where the disease poses a significant threat to people living in that region. University researchers, in collaboration with US space agency NASA and the Peruvian government, are leveraging data from Earth-observing satellites to forecast malaria outbreaks months in advance, ultimately aiming to prevent them from occurring.Using NASA Satellites to Predict Malaria Outbreaks:In the battle against malaria, which can…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain People living in ancient Eastern Arabia appear to have developed resistance to malaria following the appearance of agriculture in the region around five thousand years ago, a new study reveals. DNA analysis of the remains of four individuals from Tylos-period Bahrain (300 BCE to 600 CE)—the first ancient genomes from Eastern…

New Delhi: The health ministry has reinitiated a nationwide campaign aimed at eliminating lymphatic filariasis, a vector-borne disease also known as elephantiasis. It ranks as India's second most common mosquito-borne parasitic disease after malaria. This effort is part of a phased strategy announced last year, targeting the disease's eradication by 2027.  The campaign, which involves a mass drug administration (MDA) strategy, is especially…

A groundbreaking study overturns previous assumptions about a blood type’s resistance to malaria, revealing that even individuals with the “silent Duffy blood group” are susceptible to infection. This finding underscores the complexity of malaria resistance and the importance of advanced diagnostic methods in a changing global health landscape.People with blood trait thought to prevent the disease still became infected; the question now is ‘how?’For decades, researchers dedicated to finding a cure for malaria believed…

Malaria expert Brian Greenwood had once resigned himself to the possibility that a successful vaccine for the disease might not become available in his lifetime. Now, at 86 years old, the moment he’s spent four decades working toward has arrived.“It’s been a long journey with many ups and downs,” says Greenwood, still an active researcher at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, leading vaccine trials across Africa. “The first attempts to develop a malaria vaccine through studies in birds were done over 100…

Scientists have discovered new malaria strains in Ethiopia that are both drug-resistant and undetectable by standard tests, posing a major challenge to malaria elimination efforts in Africa.A team of scientists led by Brown University has conducted genomic surveillance, uncovering mutations in parasites that cause malaria, likely to challenge the eradication of malaria in Africa.Scientists discovered new variants of malaria parasites in Ethiopia that are resistant to existing treatments and undetectable by standard…

Researchers have chanced upon a bacteria naturally present in the gut of mosquitoes that inhibits the growth of a parasite that causes the deadliest form of malaria. Unlikely to produce resistance, the bacteria could be easily introduced in the field to complement existing malaria eradication strategies.The mosquito-borne disease malaria is caused by five protozoan parasites, with Plasmodium falciparum being the deadliest among them, and the most prevalent on the African continent. Unlike its protozoan relatives, P.…

This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.In Bangladesh, roughly 300,000 people have been infected with dengue this year during the country's worst-ever outbreak of the mosquito-transmitted disease. By mid-November, the death toll hit close to 1,500, as hospitals in the densely populated South Asian country struggled to cope with the surge in…

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed annually by malaria and other diseases spread through the bite of mosquitoes, insects that date back to the age of dinosaurs. All of these bites are inflicted by females, which possess specialized mouth anatomy that their male counterparts lack.But it hasn't always been that way.Researchers said they have discovered the oldest-known fossils of mosquitoes — two males entombed in pieces of amber dating to 130 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, and found near…