malaria news from mongabay.com

Aloha, and welcome to the planet's extinction capital

2011-11-07T19:49:00Z

Hawaii evokes images of a tropical paradise where fragrant flowers, vivid colors, exotic plants, birds, and fish abound. Unfortunately, much of Hawaii's original native flora and fauna has disappeared since the arrival of Europeans in the 18th Century. Hawaii now has the dubious distinction as having become the planet’s extinction capital, having lost more than 55 endemic species (mostly native forest birds) which account for nearly one third of recorded of bird extinctions since the 1700s.

Picture of the day: world's scariest species

2011-10-31T16:48:00Z

What's the world's scariest species? Runner-up would likely be the mosquito species that transmit malaria. Nearly a million people die from malaria annually, making up some 2.23 percent of deaths worldwide.

Malaria may hurt conservation efforts, aid poachers

2011-07-31T23:08:00Z

In 2009, 781,000 people died of malaria worldwide and nearly a quarter billion people contracted the mosquito-bourne disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While the impacts of malaria on people—among the world's worst diseases—have long been researched, a new study in Biological Conservation finds that malaria has a significant indirect impact on protected species. Many species contract various malaria strains, but the study also found that malaria in humans has the potential to leave endangered species unprotected.

Epidemic hits Amazonian indigenous group

2010-10-31T20:12:00Z

An epidemic, suspected to be malaria, has struck down dozens of people of the Yanomami tribe in the Venezuelan Amazon, reports the Associated Press. Leaders of the three impacted village told health workers that approximately 50 people have died so far, many of them children.

Malaria increases 50 percent following deforestation in the Amazon

2010-06-16T16:40:00Z

A new study shows that deforestation in the Amazon helps spread disease by creating an optimal environment for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The study, published in the online issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, found that clearing forests in the Brazilian Amazon raised incidences of malaria by almost 50 percent.

Tropical forest tree is source of new mosquito repellent as effective as DEET

2009-02-05T22:57:00Z

Isolongifolenone, a natural compound found in the Tauroniro tree (Humiria balsamifera) of South America, has been identified as an effective deterrent of mosquitoes and ticks, report researchers writing in the latest issue of Journal of Medical Entomology.

Global malaria map released - 35% of humanity at risk

2008-02-25T14:30:39Z

Researchers have developed a spatial distribution map for malaria. The results are published in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine.

Stopping malaria using smell

2007-08-31T14:30:39Z

Researchers have taken an important first step in developing improved repellants to protect mankind from its deadliest insect parasite: the mosquito.

As wealthy get dengue fever, drug companies more likely to act

2007-08-15T14:30:39Z

As dengue fever increasingly becomes a disease of the affluent -- especially in Asia -- drug companies are showing more interest in developing treatment, reports a new article published in the journal Nature.

Global warming may worsen infectious disease

2007-05-22T14:30:39Z

Outbreaks of infectious disease will likely worsen due to global warming, warn scientists at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.

Genetically engineered mosquitoes fight malaria

2007-03-19T14:30:39Z

Globally, governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to reduce the impact of the malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that affects around 400 million people each year and kills one to three million die. While most of the focus to date have been on developing drugs that boost immunity to malaria or counteract the malaria parasite once it is in the victim's bloodstream, scientists have now developed a treatment that focuses on the mosquito itself. The research, described in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), uses a genetically engineered strain of malaria-resistant mosquitoes to out-compete natural mosquitoes when fed malaria-infected blood.

Is climate change worsening malaria?

2006-03-21T15:19:39Z

A widely-cited study published a few years ago said global warming was not contributing to the resurgence of malaria in the East African Highlands, but new research by an international team that includes University of Michigan theoretical ecologist Mercedes Pascual finds that, while other factors such as drug and pesticide resistance, changing land use patterns and human migration also may play roles, climate change cannot be ruled out.

Malaria linked to Amazon deforestation

2006-02-02T15:19:39Z

A pair studies in the Amazon rainforest suggest a link between deforestation and an increased risk of malaria. The first study, conducted in the Peruvian Amazon and published in January's issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, found that malaria epidemics in the region were correlated with deforestation. The later research, released in last week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that forest clearing around settlements in the Brazilian Amazon increases the short-term risk of malaria by creating areas of standing water in which mosquitoes can lay their eggs.

Children spread malaria most says new study

2005-11-24T15:19:39Z

Children should be the focus malaria control efforts as they are ones most likely to be bitten by mosquitoes carrying the parasite, according to new research published in Nature.