Early stages of malaria may resemble the onset of the flu. Travelers who become ill with a fever during or after travel in a malaria risk area should seek prompt medical attention and should inform their physician of their recent travel history. Neither the traveler nor the physician should assume that the traveler has the flu or some other disease without doing a laboratory test to determine if the symptoms are caused by malaria. Malaria can often be prevented by the use of antimalarial drugs and use of personal protection measures against mosquito bites. The risk of malaria depends on the traveler's itinerary, the duration of travel, and the place where the traveler will spend the evenings and nights.
Travelers can still get malaria, despite use of prevention measures.
Malaria symptoms can develop as early as 6-8 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito or as late as several months after departure from a malarious area, after antimalarial drugs are discontinued. Malaria can be treated effectively in its early stages, but delaying treatment can have serious consequences. The bite of a female Anopholes mosquito injects Plasmodium protozoa into a human host. Plasmodium travel through the bloodstream to the liver. In the liver, Plasmodium multiply asexually.