With quinidine discontinued and no longer available in the US, artesunate is now the first-line treatment for severe malaria in the US, according to the CDC. …

Lorenzo Zammarchi, Nicoletta Di Lauria, Filippo Bartalesi, Lorenzo Roberto Suardi, Giampaolo Corti, Jessica Mencarini, Daniela Boccolini, Carlo Severini, Luigi Gradoni, Carla Buonamici, Giorgio Garofalo, Anna Maria Bartolesi, Nunziata Ciccone, Andrea Berni, Loredana Poggesi, Fabrizio Niccolini, Gian Maria Rossolini, Roberto Romi and Alessandro Bartoloni

In August 2018 a Moroccan man living in Tuscany developed Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The patient declared having not recently visited any endemic country, leading to diagnostic delay and severe malaria. As susceptibility to P. falciparum of Anopheles species in Tuscany is very low, and other risk factors for acquiring malaria could not be completely excluded, the case remains cryptic, similar to other P. falciparum malaria cases previously reported in African individuals living in Apulia in 2017.…

Raquel Medialdea-Carrera, Tanya Melillo, Charmaine Gauci, Graziella Rocco and Maria Louise Borg

Klara Sondén, Thierry Rolling, Andreas Wångdahl, Elsie Ydring, Sabine Vygen-Bonnet, Robert Kobbe, Johan Douhan, Ulf Hammar, Janneke Duijster, Brechje de Gier, Joanne Freedman, Nicole Gysin, Klaus Stark, Flora Stevens, Lasse Skafte Vestergaard, Anders Tegnell and Anna Färnert

Global migration has resulted in a large number of asylum applications in Europe. In 2014, clusters of Plasmodium vivax cases were reported among newly arrived Eritreans. This study aimed to assess malaria among Eritrean migrants in Europe from 2011 to 2016. We reviewed European migration numbers and malaria surveillance data for seven countries (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) which received 44,050 (94.3%) of 46,730 Eritreans seeking asylum in Europe in 2014. The overall number of malaria cases, predominantly P. vivax, increased significantly in 2014 compared to previous years, with the largest increases in Germany (44 P. vivax cases in 2013 vs 294 in 2014, p …

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Dengue -- Sri LankaResearchers in the USA have genetically modified mosquitoes to make humans less attractive to them, a discovery that could dramatically reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, and Zika fever.Female mosquitoes have been long known to use an array of sensory information to find people to bite. They can sense exhaled carbon dioxide from as far as 10 m [32.8 ft] away and are also able to detect body odour, heat, and moisture.But new research, published in the…

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Zika virus, Malaria, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Chikungunya -- DR CongoT Bobanga, M Moyo, F Vulu, SR Irish. First report of _Aedes albopictus_ (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. African Entomology 26(1): 234-236 (2018) DOI: In January 2016, _Aedes albopictus_ adults were found in the Jardin Zoologique in central Kinshasa [Democratic Republic of Congo]. Subsequent visits found more adults and larvae at numerous sites in Kinshasa. The finding of _Ae. albopictus_ in Kinshasa is not unexpected, but its presence is of importance as it is a…

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Malaria -- EthiopiaCarter TE, Yared S, Gebresilassie A, et al. First detection of _Anopheles stephensi_ Liston, 1901 (Diptera: culicidae) in Ethiopia using molecular and morphological approaches. Acta Trop. 2018; 188: 180-6. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.09.001; The authors point out the essential studies that are needed to assess the importance of _A. stephensi_ as a malaria vector in Ethiopia. The results will determine if an expansion of the malaria control program is necessary in that country.An…

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Lassa Fever -- NigeriaThe Nigerian Army has raised an alarm over an outbreak of Lassa fever. A statement on Wednesday [16 Jan 2019] by Maj Ikechukwu Eze, the acting deputy director of Army Public Relations, 3 Division, said the disease killed an officer on Tuesday [15 Jan 2019].[The statement] read: "The Headquarters 3 Division wishes to inform the general public that a male senior non-commissioned officer of the division was admitted and being managed for resistant malaria at the 3 Div Hospital after returning…

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Malaria -- DR CongoPeople are catching Ebola when seeking out treatment for malaria -- experts say there have been 8 times more malaria cases this year [2018] than last [2017] in North Kivu, and aid workers are proactively handing out drugs and mosquito nets to 450 000 residents. In addition, experts say people suffering from Ebola and malaria are becoming mixed up, making it more difficult to control the fast-spreading virus.The number of people catching malaria has spiked this year [2018] in the North Kivu…

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Malaria -- IndiaDixit J, Zachariah A, Sajesh PK, et al. Reinvestigating the status of malaria parasite (_Plasmodium_ sp.) in Indian non-human primates. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018; 12(12): e0006801; .Recent molecular phylogeny of plasmodium infecting primates suggests that the principal malaria causing pathogens in humans (_P. falciparum_, _P. vivax_, _P. malariae_, and _P. ovale_) are related to plasmodium infecting non-human primates and have multiple, independent evolutionary origins. _P.

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Malaria -- United KingdomA safari park is to permanently close its penguin enclosure after several birds died following a 2nd outbreak of malaria. Longleat in Wiltshire said a number of Humboldt penguins had died after contracting the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes.Avian malaria cannot be passed on to humans, but the park has decided to close Penguin Island to visitors. The safari park described it as "a difficult decision".Longleat said it had put measures in place to protect the birds since the…

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Malaria -- Dominican Republic…

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Malaria -- South AfricaMalaria cases in South Africa are increasing as expected during the summer months. As at the end of October 2018, more than 16 000 cases with 110 deaths have been reported. This is fewer than during the large upsurge in malaria seen in the 2017-2018 season, but still more than the average over the 10-year period 2007-2016, which was around 7600 cases per year.During the holiday season, many people will be exposed because of their travel to higher transmission areas, both internally and…

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Malaria -- SudanPeople in the camps for the displaced in North Darfur complain of the spread of malaria."There is no home free of malaria in Zamzam camp," a community leader reported to Radio Dabanga. "The same is true for the camps of Abu Shouk, Tawila, Kassab, Fata Borno, and Kabkabiya."The sheikh said that the disease, spread by mosquitoes, "appears to be more widespread than during the last rainy seasons". He added that most displaced people cannot afford to buy medicines anymore. "With these…

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Malaria -- GreeceGreek health officials have reported 9 autochthonous non-_Plasmodium falciparum_ malaria cases since August [2018].Case investigation of the 9 introduced cases (8 _P. vivax_ and one non-_P. falciparum_) showed:- 1 _P. vivax_ case with probable exposure at the municipal unit of Tichero, municipality of Soufli, regional unit (RU) of Evros, with onset of symptoms the week of 20-26 Aug 2018;- 1 _P. vivax_ case with probable exposure at the municipal unit of Feres, municipality of…

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Malaria -- ColombiaHealth officials are reporting a malaria outbreak in Cauca department in southwestern Colombia, according to a RCN Radio report (computer translated).The outbreak has affected 322 people in the rural areas of Guapi and Timbiqui: (the towns of Calle larga, Belen, San Agustin, Pascualero, and Cascajero (in Guapi) and in the mining area of Santa Maria, Chacon Playa, and Coteje (in Timbiqui).The strain of malaria was identified as _Plasmodium falciparum_. The report notes it was indicated…

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Lassa Fever -- NigeriaThe Nigerian Army has raised an alarm over an outbreak of Lassa fever. A statement on Wednesday [16 Jan 2019] by Maj Ikechukwu Eze, the acting deputy director of Army Public Relations, 3 Division, said the disease killed an officer on Tuesday [15 Jan 2019].[The statement] read: "The Headquarters 3 Division wishes to inform the general public that a male senior non-commissioned officer of the division was admitted and being managed for resistant malaria at the 3 Div Hospital after returning…

Patient with severe malaria? Call the CDC, rather than the pharmacy, to obtain artesunate. …

Data from two phase 3 trials show the efficacy of single-dose tafenoquine in preventing malarial relapse but underscore the need for appropriate patient selection. …

Philippe Gautret, Martin P Grobusch and Patricia Schlagenhauf