why are plasmodium infections in africa found in epidemic proportions
Because the malaria species Plasmodium vivax normally uses DARC to enter red blood cells, people who carry this mutation are resistant to one strain of malaria. This particular strain of malaria is not a major killer in Africa today, but was likely more threatening in the past. Biologists reason that the DARC mutant arose in Africa through random mutation and began to spread through the process of natural selection.