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Emerging Infectious Diseases
Malaria

Malaria

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Malaria Playbook

Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite that lives in blood, and while there are approximately 2,000 cases of malaria diagnosed in the United States each year, nearly all cases are among individuals who have traveled to, or come from, countries where malaria transmission occurs.
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APIC Resources and Tools
Malaria Playbook APIC Text

Click here to download the APIC Malaria Playbook

  • Developed by the APIC Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force to help infection preventionists rapidly activate malaria prevention efforts
  • The playbook is a concise workflow document that is designed to be user-friendly and operational for busy infection preventionists

Click Here to access the APIC Text – Chapter 118: Infectious Disease Disasters: Bioterrorism, Emerging Infections, and Pandemics

  • Chapter 118 of the APIC Text provides comprehensive guidance for an infection preventionist on strategies to handle Infectious Disease Disasters
About Malaria
Etiology Transmission Clinical Features and Disease Pattern History and Major Outbreaks
  • Parasites of the genus Plasmodium cause malaria, most commonly P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi in humans
  • These parasites infect human red blood cells and are transmitted through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito
  • Most commonly, malaria is transmitted when an infected Anopheles mosquito bites a person (mosquito-borne)
  • Transmission through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, or shared needles can occur, though rarely (bloodborne)
  • Pregnant individuals infected with malaria can pass the parasite to their fetus (congenital)
  • Incubation Period: Typically 7 to 30 days, depending on parasite species
  • P. vivax and P. ovale can remain dormant in the liver and reactivate months or years later
  • Malaria was once endemic in the United States, particularly in the South, until it was eliminated in 1951 through mosquito control and public health measures
  • About 2,000 cases are reported annually in the United States, nearly all in people who traveled to or immigrated from malaria-endemic regions
  • Locally acquired cases do occasionally occur when a U.S. mosquito bites an infected traveler and then transmits it to someone else
  • Summer 2023 saw the first multiple locally acquired U.S. cases in 20 years (Florida, Texas, and Maryland)
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