Risk of malaria according to geographic region
Your risk of getting malaria depends on where you are traveling. The most accurate information about the risk of malaria in specific countries is available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
- The risk is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America.
- The risk is medium in Haiti and the Indian subcontinent.
- The risk is low in most of Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Malaria infections caused by certain parasites are more common in some areas of the world.1
- Plasmodium (P.) falciparum causes most of the malaria infections in tropical Africa, eastern Asia, Oceania, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Amazon River basin area of South America.
- P. vivax causes most of the malaria infections in Central America, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia.
| Author: | Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS | Last Updated: May 16, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Martin Gabica, MD - Family Medicine W. David Colby IV, MSc, MD, FRCPC - Infectious Disease | |
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