About the Disease

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that exists mainly outside the United States. Americans are not usually at risk for the disease unless they travel to areas where malaria is endemic. There are, however, a few cases of malaria in the U.S. every year that result from blood transfusions, are passed from a pregnant mother to her fetus, or are transmitted locally by mosquitoes.

More than 1,000 Americans who travel outside the U.S. to malaria-endemic areas — mostly sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent — report getting the disease.

Any traveler who becomes ill with a fever or flu-like illness while traveling and up to one year after returning home should immediately see a doctor. You should tell the doctor that you have been traveling in a malaria-risk area.

Worldwide, between 300-500 million people get the disease and more than one million people die of it. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds.