The Plasmodium parasites are highly specific, with man as the only vertebrate host and Anopheles mosquitos as the vectors. This specificity of the parasites also ponts towards a long and adaptive relationship with our species. At present, at least 300,000,000 people are affected by malaria globally, and there are between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 malaria deaths per year.
Malaria is generally endemic in the tropics, with extensons into the subtropics.
Malaria in travellers arriving by air is now an important cause of death in non malarious areas, and this is not helped by the commom ignorance or indifference of travellers to prophylaxis. Distribution varies from country to country. In the following diagram, it will show how the malaria parasite affedts the body.