What is malaria and how is it spread?

Transmission is usually through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito that requires blood to nourish her batches of eggs which, at tropical temperatures, she produces and lays in water about every 3 days.  Symptoms of malaria usually appear 9-14 days after an infectious mosquito bite.

If not promptly diagnosed and treated, infection by the most deadly type of malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) can lead to life-threatening illness, causing severe anaemia, seizures, mental confusion, coma and death. Those who survive may still suffer from learning impairments or brain damage. The groups most at risk are people with little or no immunity to malaria, such as young children and pregnant women.