Peru Ague, swamp fever, night chills . . . . Although not referred to by its modern name, symptoms recorded in the earliest written literature document that malaria has been a health problem for thousands of years. The disease is characterized by bouts of fever, muscle stiffness, shaking, pain in joints, sweating, and extreme thirst. For more than 100 years, the most effective treatment for the symptoms of malaria has been a drug derived from the bark of a tree native to Peru. Distribution of malaria, 1997.
Malaria continues to be a source of concern even today.
On a global level, over 300 million people are infected with the disease. The disease is endemic to more than 94 countries, with regions of prevalence including tropical areas of Central and South America, India, Sri Lanka, China, Madagascar, and Indonesia. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium, a parasitic protozoan discovered in 1880. The most deadly is P. falciparum. Plasmodium sp. are microparasites, which use a vector to transmit infection from host to host.