Malaria is a parasitic disease carried by mosquito bites. It needs immediate treatment failing which it can lead to severe sometimes fatal complications. It is characterized by fever, chills and flu like symptoms initially. In 2008, an estimated 190 - 311 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and 708,000 - 1,003,000 people died. The disease infected an estimated 500,000 Brazilians annually across the Amazon basin from 1997 to 2006.
Avid deforestation of the tropical forests is cited to be one of the reasons for the 50% increase in incidence of this disease in the surrounding areas according to a new research that is tracking deforestation in Brazil's Amazon. The study was published this Wednesday in the online edition of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The study looked into malaria figures in 54 Brazilian health districts and high-definition satellite imagery showing the extent of deforestation of nearby forests in 2006.
Sarah Olson, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Nelson Institute, Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment said, “It appears that deforestation is one of the initial ecological factors that can trigger a malaria epidemic.” She explained that deforestation lead to conditions that favored the growth of Anopheles darlingi mosquito that carries the malaria parasite form human to human. “The deforested landscape, with more open spaces and partially sunlit pools of water, appears to provide ideal habitat for this mosquito,” she said. Olson went on to say that as little as four percent change in forest cover could lead to 40% rise in malaria incidence in these 54 health districts. The study also points out that similar effects may be seen elsewhere. Olson emphasized the importance of these forests saying, “Land-management practices show promise as useful interventions to reduce malaria risk factors.”
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