Is Malaria Still a Threat?

Malaria is a potentially fatal mosquito-borne illness with a long history.  The parasites responsible for malaria infection were first identified around 1880.  Since then, mosquitoes carrying these parasites have been found preserved in amber, believed to be 30,000,000 years old.  Is malaria still a threat? Even though malaria was eliminated in the United States in the early 1950’s, it remains a threat in other parts of the world today.  There were more than 400,000 known malaria deaths throughout the world in 2018.  More than 90% of malaria deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.