Malaria Outbreaks

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Last reviewed

April 28, 2025

Fact checked by Robert Carlson, MD

Content Overview

Malaria is vaccine preventable disease caused by parasites transmitted to people by infected mosquitoes.

Malaria Outbreaks April 2025

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Malaria Report 2024, eleven out of 83 malaria-endemic countries had the highest rates of infections and deaths in 2023. According to the WHO, despite an annual expenditure of $4 billion, malaria deaths and cases have not shown substantial change over the last decade. According to WHO's latest malaria report, there were an estimated 263 million malaria cases and 597,000 related fatalities worldwide in 2023. This data represents about 11 million more cases than in 2022. Countries in the Region of the Americas reported 505,000 malaria cases in 2023, a 5% increase from 2022. The WHO African Region shoulders the heaviest burden of malaria disease: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania.

On World Malaria Day 2025, the WHO is calling for revitalized efforts at all levels, from global policy to community action, to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination. Malaria infections are often misdiagnosed; however, commercial lab testing services can detect malaria infections.

Updated on November 30, 2024, the WHO Guidelines for Malaria include updated recommendations for malaria vaccines, primaquine, and tafenoquine. The WHO recommends the use of malaria vaccines for the prevention of P. falciparum malaria in children living in malaria-endemic areas, such as Africa in 2025.

Malaria Cases in the United States 2025

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says millions of residents travel to countries where Malaria is present. As of week #11 ending March 15, 2025, the CDC confirmed 209 malaria cases in the United States. During 2024, the CDC confirmed 436 cases.

The CDC published MMWR Volume 30, Number 7—July 2024, Research Letter, which reported that about ten Plasmodium vivax malaria cases were confirmed at an institution in Los Angeles, California, in 2023. The CDC published a Report on September 8, 2023, confirming eight cases of autochthonous Malaria were reported by state health departments in Florida (Sarasota, seven) and Texas (one) in Cameron County from May 18 to July 17, 2023. On October 24, 2024, the CDC reported (73(42);946–949) nine local malaria cases from May to August 2023, followed by a 10th case of locally acquired Malaria diagnosed in Arkansas. On August 6, 2023, Maryland reported one local case of Malaria.

In March 2025, Florida reported eight cases of travel-related Malaria. As of December 2023, Florida Health reported over 71 cases of Malaria related to international travel. In 2003, 8 cases of locally acquired P. vivax malaria were identified in Palm Beach County, FL. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Amira Bashadi, MPH, reported on February 16, 2024, that from 2013 to 2022, 1,239 cases of Malaria were reported in Texas. In 2022, there were 166 malaria cases in Texas. Of these, the majority (98%) were acquired from international travelers from Africa, Asia, and South America.

In 2019, 2,048 malaria cases, most associated with travel to 85 countries where Malaria remains endemic, were reported to the CDC.

Malaria Outbreaks in Africa

The WHO says four African countries account for over 50% of all malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria (31.3%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), the United Republic of Tanzania (4.1%), and Niger (3.9%). In October 2024, Ethiopia reported over 7.3 million malaria cases and 1,157 deaths. A study published by PLOS ONE on May 31, 2023, found that in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries' Malaria Indicator Surveys, the pooled prevalence of Malaria among children aged 6–59 months was found to be 27.41% (95% CI: 17.94%-36.88%).

Malaria in South Africa is seasonal and primarily occurs in the provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal.

Data from the 2018 Federal Republic of Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey previously showed that malaria parasitemia in children was 23%. Kebbi state has the highest malaria prevalence in the country, at 49% of children under five, and the highest mortality rate.

The Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services reported malaria outbreaks continued in 2025. By March 2025, Namibia reported 25,159 malaria cases and 51 deaths (CFR 0.2%).

Tanzania recently became the fourth African country in 2024, alongside Rwanda, Uganda, and Eritrea, to meet the WHO criteria for falciparum malaria with artemisinin partial resistance (ART-R). This finding is undoubtedly part of a much more significant concern, as ART-R will likely emerge across Africa. ART-R was first reported on the Cambodia–Thailand border. Artemisinins provide the backbone of all first-line treatments for uncomplicated falciparum malaria, as well as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and severe Malaria, including injectable artesunate followed by ACTs.

Malaria Outbreaks in The Americas

In 2024, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) estimated that 41 million people live in 21 areas where the risk of infection by mosquito-carrying Malaria is considered moderate to high. Eighteen countries, including one territory in the Region of the Americas, are currently at risk of Malaria. In the Americas, over 500,000 cases were reported in 2023. In 2022, PAHO reported 481,788 cases and approximately 92 deaths, and in 2021, 520,000 cases and around 120 deaths were reported. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation publishes estimates of malaria-related mortality.

In the Region of the Americas, the Belize Ministry of Health confirmed local malaria transmission in Santa Elena Town and Cristo Rey Village in Cayo District in April 2025. Between 2022 and 2023, Argentina, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the U.S. reported imported Malaria cases and local transmission. Brazil and Venezuela reported the highest number of malaria cases in 2022. In December 2023, the Costa Rica Health Surveillance Directorate of the Ministry of Health announced an increased risk of Malaria in Costa Rica, especially in coastal zones. Over 544 malaria cases were confirmed in 2; in 2022, Costa Rica reported 406 locally acquired malaria cases. The CDC issued various outbreak alerts for malaria-endemic countries, including Costa Rica, in 2023. Paraguay, Argentina, and El Salvador were certified malaria-free by WHO in 2018, 2019, and 2021, respectively. Additionally, the WHO certified Belize malaria-free on June 21, 2023.

The Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Health reported eight cases of Malaria in 2025.

A study published by the Royal Society on February 15, 2023, indicates malaria-carrying mosquitoes are gaining an average of 6.5 meters (21 feet) of elevation per year, and the southern limits of their ranges are moving by 4.7 kilometers (nearly 3 miles) from the equator per year.

Malaria Outbreaks in China

China was declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization in 2021, and no indigenous cases of Malaria have been reported since 2016. In China, the malaria burden was reduced from 30 million cases per year in the 1940s to zero indigenous cases in 2017.

Malaria Outbreaks in Europe

As of April 2024, malaria-carrying mosquitoes have been detected in Greece (since 2021) and along Italy's southeastern coast. The European CDC published the Surveillance Atlas, which reported travel-associated malaria cases in Europe from 2018 to 2022.

Malaria Outbreks India

In 2022, 50 people died of Malaria across India. However, this was a drastic decrease from 2014, when 562 deaths were attributed to Malaria. The National Framework for Malaria Elimination in India (2016-2030) was launched in 2016, followed by the National Strategic Plan (2017-2022). According to the WMR 2019, India represents 3% of the global malaria burden.

Malaria Mexico

On November 7, 2023, The Lancet published an article titled "The U.S.–Mexico border and falciparum malaria." The significant increase of Malaria in a non-endemic region forces the medical community and health authorities of our country, as well as the increasing number of countries with high migratory flow, to provide technical assistance in local diagnostic laboratories to establish strategies for the detection of active malaria infections and expedite treatment by eliminating administrative barriers to comply with the guidelines set by WHO. Access to antimalarials is available through the health jurisdiction in Mexico City, and a diagnosis of certainty must be provided. Diagnostic tests based on nucleic acids to detect Plasmodium antigens are unavailable, and the number of expert microscopists is limited to reference laboratories. The U.S. CDC recommends that travelers to certain areas of Mexico take prescription medicine to prevent Malaria. Depending on your medication, you must start taking this medicine multiple days before, during, and after your trip.

Malaria in South Korea

In April 2025, South Korean military personnel were treated for malaria infections. In 2024, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency issued a nationwide malaria alert. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, over 719 malaria cases were confirmed from January to mid-October 2023. This is the first time the annual number of malaria cases has topped 700 since 2011.

Malaria United Kingdom

This resurgence of malaria outbreaks has significant implications for travelers, given that Malaria is imported into the UK. Guidelines for malaria prevention in travelers from the UK were published in December 2024. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported in December 2024 that Provisional figures indicate that 753 travel-acquired malaria cases were reported in the UK between January and June 2024. The annual malaria report for 2023 shows that 2,106 cases of imported Malaria were reported in the UK. This represents a 26% increase over the 1,555 cases reported in 2022. Six malaria-related deaths were also reported in the UK in 2023.

Malaria

Malaria is a curable disease caused by four species of protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale, and is transmitted to people by Anopheles mosquitoes.

Zoonotic Avian Malaria Outbreaks

Zoonotic forms of Malaria have been documented as causes of human infections and some deaths, especially P. knowlesi, a parasite of Old World (Eastern Hemisphere) monkeys in Southeast Asia. Avian Malaria is a disease caused by a species of protozoan parasites (Plasmodium) that infect birds. It has caused mortalities in captive penguins worldwide. A study published in 2021 concluded that penguins' susceptibility, translocation across institutions, and the wide distribution of avian Malaria make this disease a constant threat.