4 ms·

The article says malaria was eradicated in France. Anyone knows how? Why can it not be replicated in africa?

murbard2 8y ago
In large parts, draining the swamps and wetlands crashed the mosquito population.
vilhelm_s 8y ago
Google shows this article about eradication of malaria in Corsica after WWII: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927611/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927611/ . The mosquito population was suppressed by draining marshes and by spraying breeding grounds with insecticides such as DDT. If you disrupt the mosquito population for a few years, the malaria parasite will die out since it needs to be transmitted to humans or other animals as part of its life cycle. The same thing was done in the U.S., where malaria used to be endemic until the 20th century. http://dcmosquitosquad.com/history-of-malaria-in-the-usa/ http://dcmosquitosquad.com/history-of-malaria-in-the-usa/
- maxerickson 8y ago
  The malaria that infects humans only infects humans, which is simpler than if you also have to deal with animal reservoirs.
  - mkstowegnv 8y ago
    Unfortunately "three human Plasmodium parasites" have been found in chimpanzees. "If malignant malaria were eradicated from human populations, chimpanzees, in addition to gorillas, might serve as a reservoir for P. falciparum." http://www.pnas.org/content/107/23/10561 http://www.pnas.org/content/107/23/10561
kpil 8y ago
There was malaria in Sweden and it was relatively common 250 years ago, especially in the archipelagos around Stockholm. The climate is probably not the best for the parasite, but there was a number of changes that more or less unintentionally helped erradicate the disease. First, there were enormous projects to improve farming. Basically all lakes became regulated and most wetlands were dried out to gain farmland. Before that there was a long period of improvements of living standards and hygiene - as simple as separate and better houses for the people rather than sharing a single house with the kettle. Glass windows got affordable for basically everyone, etc. There are still mosquitos, including those that may transmit malaria, but the breeding opportunities and contamination paths got reduced below a critical level for the parasite. I suspect that having cold winters helps, but I guess that the situation in Africa could be improved too with better houses and better control of potential breeding areas. It took a couple of hundred years in Sweden though..
tgb 8y ago
It was eradicated in the US too - and surprisingly recently! It took only four years 1947-1951. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Malaria_Eradication_Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Malaria_Eradication_P...
- Fomite 8y ago
  Note that, while it only took for years, our mosquito control programs are pretty much a permanent commitment to keep it out.
tim333 8y ago
Bill gates gave a good talk on malaria eradication https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgvhP07BC8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgvhP07BC8 Basically to get rid of it you have to kill the mosquitos or stop the people getting infected. That is hard with large jungle areas and tribal people who don't go see the doctor. In most places where people go to the doctor it does get wiped out. Eventually as Africa gets richer and people have modern facilities it would probably get sorted anyway but that may be a while. Things can go backwards too. In Venezuela it was mostly gone but has come back with the economic collapse.

In large parts, draining the swamps and wetlands crashed the mosquito population.

Google shows this article about eradication of malaria in Corsica after WWII: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927611/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927611/ . The mosquito population was suppressed by draining marshes and by spraying breeding grounds with insecticides such as DDT. If you disrupt the mosquito population for a few years, the malaria parasite will die out since it needs to be transmitted to humans or other animals as part of its life cycle. The same thing was done in the U.S., where malaria used to be endemic until the 20th century. http://dcmosquitosquad.com/history-of-malaria-in-the-usa/ http://dcmosquitosquad.com/history-of-malaria-in-the-usa/

maxerickson 8y ago
The malaria that infects humans only infects humans, which is simpler than if you also have to deal with animal reservoirs.
- mkstowegnv 8y ago
  Unfortunately "three human Plasmodium parasites" have been found in chimpanzees. "If malignant malaria were eradicated from human populations, chimpanzees, in addition to gorillas, might serve as a reservoir for P. falciparum." http://www.pnas.org/content/107/23/10561 http://www.pnas.org/content/107/23/10561

kpil 8y ago

There was malaria in Sweden and it was relatively common 250 years ago, especially in the archipelagos around Stockholm. The climate is probably not the best for the parasite, but there was a number of changes that more or less unintentionally helped erradicate the disease. First, there were enormous projects to improve farming. Basically all lakes became regulated and most wetlands were dried out to gain farmland. Before that there was a long period of improvements of living standards and hygiene - as simple as separate and better houses for the people rather than sharing a single house with the kettle. Glass windows got affordable for basically everyone, etc. There are still mosquitos, including those that may transmit malaria, but the breeding opportunities and contamination paths got reduced below a critical level for the parasite. I suspect that having cold winters helps, but I guess that the situation in Africa could be improved too with better houses and better control of potential breeding areas. It took a couple of hundred years in Sweden though..

tgb 8y ago

It was eradicated in the US too - and surprisingly recently! It took only four years 1947-1951. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Malaria_Eradication_Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Malaria_Eradication_P...

Fomite 8y ago
Note that, while it only took for years, our mosquito control programs are pretty much a permanent commitment to keep it out.

tim333 8y ago

Bill gates gave a good talk on malaria eradication https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgvhP07BC8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgvhP07BC8 Basically to get rid of it you have to kill the mosquitos or stop the people getting infected. That is hard with large jungle areas and tribal people who don't go see the doctor. In most places where people go to the doctor it does get wiped out. Eventually as Africa gets richer and people have modern facilities it would probably get sorted anyway but that may be a while. Things can go backwards too. In Venezuela it was mostly gone but has come back with the economic collapse.